


Handle With Care

by joannacamilley



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal High School, F/M, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-03-31 00:30:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3957697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joannacamilley/pseuds/joannacamilley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stefan Salvatore is the new kid in school so of course Caroline is interested, but he might have secrets darker than anyone anticipated. AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Day

* * *

The road glistened under streetlights as the car drove carefully down its path. It had just rained, the fresh smell usually able to comfort him instead made the tears fall faster. He tried to stay silent but he couldn't help the little gasps that came along with crying.

The officer in the passenger seat turned around and gave him a grimace that was meant to be a reassuring smile. "You doing alright kid? Stefan Salvatore, right?"

He quickly nodded but refrained from speaking until the knot in his throat went away.

"Real sorry about your dad. He was a good man. Guess he's in a better place now, right?"

Stefan closed his eyes for a few seconds as the burning behind them grew stronger. He rested his forehead on the window and sighed. All the lights blurred together from both the moisture on the glass and his face.

"You know where we're taking you, right? Your next of kin is an older brother in Mystic Falls, right?"

A flicker of irritation rose up within Stefan. If the officer said 'right' one more time, he was going to flip out.

"What about that cut on his face?" asked the cop that was driving, flicking his eyes to the rear view mirror to look at Stefan.

"Does it hurt?"

Stefan shook his head but still brought a hand up to his cheek. There was a horizontal cut a few centimeters deep just below his left eye. It had stopped bleeding a while ago but was still a little sticky. He dropped the hand and unconsciously held his side, making himself gasp. He hoped the officers attributed it to his crying and clutched his hands together on his lap.

"It doesn't look too bad but you probably want to get that checked out when we get you home."

Home? Stefan was not going home. He was going 50 miles away to live with his estranged brother in a house that had been passed down for generations. He was going to a place where he practically knew no one with a broken heart and a busted up face.

"Tell your brother we don't miss him at all, alright?" the annoying one chuckled. "He used to always end up in our station, remember? Then that one time Giuseppe dropped him off for being in a fight? He wouldn't stop talking in that holding cell. Thank God he got the hell out of town when he turned eighteen, the neighborhood's been much quieter since then."

Stefan bit his lip to stop from saying anything. He prefered it when the cop asked annoying questions that he didn't answer.

The next forty minutes passed by quietly, at least on Stefan's end. The cops chattered about this or that, a few dozen 'right's dropped in between. They reminisced about Giuseppe Salvatore, the town's savior, and his wife, who unfortunately passed away some years before. They talked a little more about Damon, recalling how they would purposefully stop him on the street because they just  _knew_  he was being a nuisance. The conversation slipped onto Stefan and one of the officers wondered if he was mute or just traumatized. No one had ever heard Stefan say much, which was what he preferred. He rolled his eyes and watched the trees go by as they drew closer to Mystic Falls.

When Caroline walked into Mystic Falls High School that Friday, she had the distinct feeling she was being left out of something. And if you knew Caroline, you knew she _hated_  not knowing everything about everything. Whispers were being exchanged throughout the hallways as she walked towards her locker, making her slightly paranoid there was a new rumor about her going around. She had just pulled out her phone and was going to send a text to her besties when she looked up to see someone pass by her.

It wasn't just anyone, though. She had known everyone in this school since she was five years old. While she loved Mystic Falls more than anything, she wished she could go someplace where there were new faces. And one had just walked by her.

Since when had high school boys looked like  _that_? He had dark green eyes, bronze hair, and the most kissable lips she had ever seen. He had a little scrape on his cheek but that was easily fixable. She was entranced as he walked past her and she let her gaze fall down to his ass.  _Perfect_. This boy was just perfect.

"Who was that?" she quickly asked the girl next to her as the boy turned down another hallway.

"I don't know, but I'd like a piece of that," the girl sighed.

Caroline pursed her lips. "I call dibs," she succinctly said before turning on her heels to find her actual friends.

She found Elena and Bonnie equally transfixed on him as she walked them to their history class, which as luck would have it, they shared with him and she didn't.

"Elena, you already have a boyfriend, or had, I don't know what's up with you and Matt," she huffed. "And Bonnie, you know Elena's little brother is obsessed with you. Can I please have him? Pleaseeee?"

"He's not an object, you can't stake a claim on him," Elena frowned. "And don't worry about me and Matt. We're working things out, okay?"

"You think Jeremy likes me?" Bonnie asked, blushing a little.

"That's not the point! The point is I get to him first, okay? If he doesn't want me, then, maybe, possibly, you can start talking to him," Caroline said with her head held high, but on the inside she was a little worried. Yes, she had gone on tons of dates before, but it was always Elena who found the ones who were boyfriend material. And boy, did she want to keep him for more than one night. As long as he stayed away from Elena long enough to start liking Caroline, she thought she would be safe.

Except for the fact that he had class with Elena right now.

Caroline briskly walked away and prayed her little heart out that they sat on opposite sides of the room facing different directions and had absolutely no contact for the rest of the day. This can't be ruined before it even started.

She sulked the entire period she had English and was out the door the second the bell started to ring. She practically sprinted to Mr. Tanner's classroom just in time to see him leave the room.

"Mr. Salvatore." Caroline almost jumped when Mr. Tanner's booming voice traveled down the hall. It's not that it was particularly loud or deep, but the hatred that ran through it made it scary.

The boy had turned around and was heading back to the room. "You can call me Stefan," he said and Caroline almost swooned at his voice. She reminded herself to practice writing Mrs. Stefan Salvatore as soon as possible.

"Mr. Salvatore," Mr. Tanner said sternly. "I don't appreciate when students talk out of turn. Do you understand?"

"Of course, I apologize." He didn't even sound sarcastic, causing her attraction for him to reach heights she never knew existed. Cute and polite was her kryptonite.

"Make sure it doesn't happen again," Mr. Tanner said before heading back into his classroom.

Stefan turned and for a split second, their eyes met. Caroline prayed that she looked calm, cool and collected, but was pretty sure she resembled a lovesick puppy. He didn't pause and kept walking past her to his next class.

The hallways were starting to empty so she quickly went to her algebra class where everything made just about as much sense as Stefan being voted the ugliest student in school. She couldn't help herself from doodling his name in her notes a few times before she decided sixteen was too old to be acting like a preteen with their first crush. Time passed agonizingly slow but eventually class was over and she went to meet Elena for their only class together: chemistry.

"I found out his name," Caroline said in one whoosh, making Elena laugh.

"So did I, he was in my class, remember?" she smirked as they made their way to their lab.

"You didn't talk to him, did you?" As much as she tried not to, some worry must have slipped into her voice because Elena looked at her with slightly raised eyebrows.

"No, he answered a question for me though. Tanner was pissed."

"I saw. After class, he was telling Stefan not to do it again. He should be glad someone is actually willing to answer his stupid questions."

"You saw? Are you stalking him now?" Elena teased her.

Caroline blushed and put her head down, holding her notebook closer to her. "It's not fair, you have class with him and I don't," she pouted.

"Don't speak so soon," Elena smiled as they walked into their classroom. Stefan was standing in the front talking to the teacher, Mr. Pollard.

Heart beating loudly in her ears, Caroline followed Elena as they walked past him to their table. He glanced up at her and actually gave her a once-over before looking back at Mr. Pollard.

She was surprised she didn't trip and fall right then. He looked at her,  _her_ , and not Elena first. That was a new one.

When the last few stragglers made it to class, Mr. Pollard cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Okay, class, this is Stefan Salvatore and he'll be joining our class for the rest of the year. Anyone want to volunteer to bring him into their lab group?" Nearly all of the girls' hands shot up but Caroline's was the first. "Alright, you can join Caroline, Elena, and Aimee, second row on the left."

Her heart fluttered as he made his way towards them. He set his bag down and sat across from Caroline, which was next to Aimee.

"You're Stefan, right?" Aimee giggled, acting as if she hadn't heard his name announced just fifteen seconds earlier.

He narrowed his eyes before letting out a chuckle and nodding. "And you are?"

Uh oh. Aimee had her flirty face on. Caroline shot daggers at her as she giggled again and twirled her hair around her finger. "I'm Aimee, aka the way to an easy A in this class. We should... study together sometime."

Caroline was seething with anger. There was no way this bitch was going to take Stefan from her before they had even been properly introduced. "I'm Caroline," she cut in, causing his gaze to move to her. "I'm actually very organized and take great notes so I'm probably a better study partner."

Stefan bit his lip to hold in a smile, but that just made her eyes zoom in on them.

"And I'm Elena, apparently the only sane one here." Caroline shot an annoyed look at her before looking back at Stefan.

"Well, it's nice to meet all of you," he said, flickering his gaze between the three of them. "Shall we get started?"

There wasn't much time to talk about personal things while trying to do a titration, where the slip of a hand would cause them to have to redo the whole lab over. It took them right until the bell to finish and when Caroline looked up after putting everything away, he was gone.  _Damn_.

"Why did you have to make me sound like I'm crazy?" Caroline whined to Elena once they were down the hall.

"Because you are. 'Oh, I'm very organized'. Is that really how you flirt?" Caroline momentarily considered smacking the smirk off Elena's face but decided against it.

"Well you don't have to compete with Aimee freaking Bradley," she grumbled.

"Who says you're competing? I saw the way he looked at you earlier."

"Did you?" A huge smile overtook Caroline's face. "Do you think he likes me?"

"Why don't you go talk to him?" Elena suggested as the reached the cafeteria for lunch. Stefan was sitting at a table alone, slowly eating a sandwich.

"I can't go over there alone!" she squealed, her heart beating fast again. "You have to come with me."

"I have to eat lunch with Matt, remember? We have some things we need to talk about..." her voice drifted off of her vague explanation.

"Then bring him over with you. And Bonnie and Tyler too, I guess."

After a few pouts and begs, Elena finally agreed and they went to their usual table to round up their group. "Hey guys, we're going to sit somewhere new today," Elena sighed and nodded to Stefan's table.

"Why are we going to sit with that loser?" Tyler asked with his mouth full of hamburger.

"Because Caroline's in love with 'that loser'," Bonnie teased her but gathered her things anyway.

Caroline could feel Tyler's eyes on her but she was too busy looking at Stefan to pay attention to him. Stefan just looked so alone, and so used to being alone, that it was breaking Caroline's heart.

"Elena," Matt said as he pulled on her elbow. "You said that we could talk."

"I know. Let's just put our stuff down over there then we'll talk, alright?"

With everyone else leaving, Tyler grumbled as he got up as well. Caroline happily lead her friends over to the lonely table in the back of the room.

The group of people walking towards him made Stefan look up. He recognized the blonde and the brunette from his chemistry class but he was pretty sure that everyone else was new to him. Or not. It was hard to keep track of an entire school of people he didn't know. He wanted to say something but wasn't sure if they were actually walking to him or just headed in his direction. When Caroline's eyes locked with his, though, it erased every doubt in his mind.

"Hi, Stefan," Caroline said cheerfully. "You looked like you could use some friends so I brought mine over. That's Bonnie, Mr. Grumpy Pants is Tyler, and Elena's special little friend is Matt." Maybe she just said that to take Elena completely off his radar. Or maybe she doesn't really plan what comes out of her mouth. Either way, it seemed to work because he turned more towards her.

"Thanks for coming. I don't really know anyone here," he shrugged, looking down at his food.

"You know me," she smiled at him. Matt and Elena had left leaving Tyler, Bonnie, Caroline and Stefan together at the table.

"Aren't you that new Salvatore guy?" Tyler interrupted them. "Wasn't your dad like murdered or something?"

Stefan's face paled a bit as he stiffened up. He avoided all their eyes and started pulling apart the bread of his sandwich. "He was in an accident," he finally mumbled.

"What about your mom? Why aren't you with her in wherever you're from?"

Caroline pursed her lips at Tyler. Couldn't he see he was making Stefan uncomfortable? Unless that's exactly what he wanted.

"Richmond, and because she died when I was young. My brother is the only one who could take me." His face had finally regained some color and was colored a bright pink.

"Your brother, Damon Salvatore? Who lives in that big house with like a bajillion rooms?" Bonnie asked him, genuinely intrigued.

"Yeah. It's the Salvatore Boarding House. My family owns it."

"You know Elena thinks he's really hot," Bonnie told Caroline.

She almost choked on her juice. "What? Isn't he like thirty?"

"Twenty four, actually," Stefan said. "Isn't she with that guy she left with?"

"Yeah, she's with Matt but their relationship is a little-" Caroline made a hand gesture implying it was unstable.

"I don't know, it's pretty illegal and Damon's a little... intense," Stefan decided on the word.

Everyone knew what he was talking about. Between the stories of all the women he had wooed and the dark feeling he brought whenever he was around left a specific reputation for him.

"Damon's only here because my Uncle Zach didn't want the house anymore. Once I turn eighteen, he's probably going to skip town. Tell Elena not to count on him being around," Stefan added.

A figure walked up behind Bonnie, making everyone look up. It was Elena's younger brother. "Hey, Bonnie," he said, his voice wavering a little in nervousness.

Caroline tried to hold in her laughter. How hadn't Bonnie noticed the way he acted around her before?

"Hey, Jeremy. Did you like the book I gave you?" This was news to Caroline. What book?

"Yeah, I never knew witches and vampires had actual histories, you know? I thought they were just made up for Halloween or something. Anyway, um, it kind of inspired me so I made this drawing." He was already pulling it out before Bonnie could say anything. It was a very mystical drawing of a beautiful witch, who looked suspiciously like Bonnie, floating above ground as she cast a spell on a misshapen vampire. "I want you to have it."

"Wow, Jer, thanks. You're amazing. Please don't ever stop drawing," Bonnie smiled at him.

"Wouldn't dream of it. I'm glad you like it." He glanced around the rest of the table and briefly paused on Stefan as if sizing him up. "Well lunch is almost over and I gotta finish some of my stupid math homework. I'll see you around." Jeremy had already walked a few steps away before he turned around again. "Oh! Tonight is the bonfire, will I see you then?"

"Definitely," Bonnie nodded. Jeremy smiled at her and walked back to his table.

"Bonfire? What's that?" Stefan asked.

"It's kinda like an outdoor party that seniors, juniors, and even sophomores like Jeremy go to. Basically we just get really drunk and dance around this big fire," Caroline explained to him.

"Well that sounds perfectly safe," Stefan chuckled.

"You should come! You'll get to meet everyone, and come on, what else are you going to do tonight?"

Stefan looked down and smiled before nodding. "You're right. I'll be there."

Caroline clapped her hands together in excitement just as the bell rang. "It's down at Fells Park and starts at seven!" she told him just before they went their separate ways.


	2. The Bonfire

When school was finally let out, Stefan grudgingly boarded the bus to go home. He had gotten his driver's license a few months ago but his beloved car had been destroyed in  _the_   _accident_. And since it was only his second day here, he hadn't had time to try to look for a new car.

The Boarding House was the last stop. No one sat next to him, which was what he prefered, but they all glanced at him from the corner of their eyes. Never before had he felt like more of a freak show, but he knew how strange it was to get a new student in such a small town. His family originated in Mystic Falls and were actually one of the Founding Families, but his father had moved them to Richmond for business opportunities before he was born. It was much more likely that people left rather than settled down here.

The bus finally pulled up to the end of the Boarding House's long driveway. Stefan made the long trek up the the actual house and saw the blue Camaro in the driveway. His brother was home. By the time he had gotten in last night, his brother was nowhere to be found so they hadn't actually seen each other in seven years.

He struggled with the new keys for a second, trying to open the door before it was opened from the inside. Damon stared at him hard for a few seconds before turning to the side and raising his eyebrows. "Are you coming in?"

Stefan swallowed and walked in, looking around at the foyer. It was dark last night so he didn't get to see how antique it all looked.

"Long time, no see, brother. What happened to Dad, anyway? Did he finally talk himself to death?"

Stefan froze and held his breath before turning towards his brother. "He was in a car accident because he was drinking," he said softly, staring at the carpet.

Damon suddenly went up to him and put his thumb on his cheek. "Was this an accident also?"

Startled, Stefan took a step back and put his head down again. "Yeah."

Damon kept his gaze on him for a while before shaking his head. "Sorry it's been so long since we've seen each other but I probably would've killed him if I had to live there for another day," he said nonchalantly as he walked into the living room.

Stefan followed and noticed the copious amount of alcohol laying around. "Don't you live alone?" he asked as Damon uncorked one of the bottles and poured it into a glass.

"Oh, these? I own the main bar here and one of the perks is being able to take home whatever I want." Stefan just stared at him as he took a sip of the brown liquid. "You can have some, but only in the house. I don't want the sheriff to be up on my ass about letting my underage brother drink."

"Thanks...?"

"I honestly don't care what you do, just don't get me in trouble. If you want to stay out late, fine, just don't let the cops catch you doing something illegal."

"Like you used to do?" Stefan asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Damon gave him a little smirk before shrugging. "Yeah, well, its not like I had any incentive to actually coming home."

"I'm going out tonight," Stefan said as he picked up one of the bottles and sniffed the contents. It smelled strong. Definitely top-shelf liquor.

"Seriously? You? I thought you were going to lock yourself in your room and spend the rest of the night writing in your diary or sulking," Damon snickered, taking the bottle from him and pouring some into a glass before holding it out again.

"First of all, its a journal, and second, that's not all I do. I was invited to the bonfire at Fells Park by some people I met today." Stefan's face turned sour as he took a sip from the glass.

Damon smirked. "Shy little Stefan actually talked to people today? I'm shocked. That's bourbon, by the way. It's an acquired taste. And expensive. So don't waste it on anyone you bring over. We give them the cheap alcohol over there," he pointed to the table behind the couch.

"Duly noted. Guess I better go get this sulking out before this party starts." He could hear Damon chuckling at him as he went upstairs to his room. It looked just as old as the rest of the house. Stefan was okay with that, though. He would be eighteen in just over a year and could get the hell out of town if he wanted to. He sat his bag down and contemplated writing in his diary. He hadn't had time to write in it last night, after everything had happened.

Did he need to? He had been in the habit of writing everything that had happened at the end of the day because he cherished memories more than anything. But he doubted he would ever forget about what happened yesterday.

His heart ached as he thought about it. He had to sit down for a second to keep his emotions from overwhelming him. Maybe he was traumatized. Maybe he needed therapy. But he knew that would never happen. He would round up everything that happened yesterday, wrap it in a pretty box, and bury it in a corner of his mind forever.

It was a Friday and his first day of school so there wasn't too much to be done. Abandoning the journal idea, Stefan instead decided to unpack his things. He didn't have much because he wasn't that materialistic, but he brought a lot of books with him. Like, a  _lot_. Most of them would be shipped over by the next day, but he had been able to pack a few before the cops whisked him away from his home. It was a stack that was always on his desk because he read them too much to keep pulling them out of the shelf. He didn't read the entire book each time, no, but his favorite passages that set his soul alight.

 _The Great Gatsby_  was on top, his all time favorite. He didn't know why he loved it so much, but he felt as if he belonged more in the 20s than 2000s. There were postits saving his favorite lines so he flipped through the pages, reading them.

" _You see I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me."_

" _The loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly."_

" _It takes two to make an accident."_

Perhaps this wasn't the best book to raise his mood. Actually, he had a habit of reading books with tragic endings. His solution was to read the good parts, before everything turns to shit.

At quarter to seven, Stefan decided it was time to stop reading about Daisy and Jay flirting at every turn and instead decided to get ready. He thought his jeans were fine but put on a leather jacket over his shirt. Once he made sure he had his keys and phone, he made his way downstairs. Damon was sitting on the couch, drinking out of one of the bottles.

"Are you serious?" Stefan groaned, standing at the end of the couch with Damon's feet up on it.

"What's up, Stef? Going to that party?" he slurred a little.

"I don't have a car. I was thinking you could take me, but..."

"Will there be more alcohol there? 'Cause you can take both of us because I'm about to run out of the good stuff," he sloppily smiled at his little brother. "You have a drivers license, right?"

Stefan sighed and shrugged. "Yeah, yeah. I don't know how else to get there so I guess we'll both go. Get up."

It was comical how much Stefan had to help his older brother to the car. Everything was funny to Damon, especially the annoyance that crossed Stefan's face. Stefan suspected that half of his behavior was for show but didn't comment on it.

"Hey, Stef," Damon chuckled once his brother was sitting behind the wheel. "Let's not end up like Dad this time, okay?"

Stefan sighed and turned the car on. "I'm not the one who's drunk so we should be fine."

"Is it bad to say that I'm happy he's dead?" he continued rambling on. "Like, he was such an asshole, I can't believe people miss him."

"He was campaigning for mayor, of course people liked him," Stefan murmured as he tried not to get lost. Though this town was so small he didn't know if it would be possible.

"Did you miss me?" Damon suddenly changed the subject.

Stefan glanced at him. "Of course. You're my brother."

"I didn't want to leave you. I really didn't. But I couldn't take it anymore. I swear if I was there for even a couple more days, I would've snapped his neck."

Stefan sighed and set his lips in a straight line. "It's okay. I know."

"You're my only brother. You're the only one I really trust in this world, you know? No one else will ever get me like you do. Am I right?" Damon's eyes were burning into the side of his face, prompting him to answer.

"Damon... you'll find someone else who gets you."

"Nooooo, trust me, I've tried. Maybe I'm just not boyfriend material." Damon laid his head against the window and closed his eyes. "But I just fall for them so fast and they get scared. I don't... is there something wrong with me?"

"Damon, how about we discuss your love life some other time," Stefan said gently as he saw the glow of the bonfire ahead of him.

It looked like almost everyone from school had turned up. Stefan parked and turned to his brother.

"Don't go creeping on anyone, alright?"

"Creeping?" Damon's smirk almost ate up his face.

"Everyone here is in high school. And you're already drunk. Just... remember how old you are, okay?"

"Woah there, little brother. Are you trying to make me out to be a pedophile?"

Stefan let out a breath and scanned the scene before answering him. "I just know someone here who likes you. And she can't be any older than 17 so please, restrain yourself."

"Who?" Damon was suddenly very interested in this conversation.

"It doesn't matter. I'll find you later and take you home, alright?"

Stefan was already climbing out of the door when Damon spoke up again. "Are you not going to drink?"

"No. Who's going to take us home then? Besides, I can't, especially not here..."

Damon's gaze dropped just below his left eye and he nodded solemnly. "See you later, Stef."

Stefan wandered through the crowd, searching for a familiar face. He'd even settle for Tyler at this point. Everyone was staring at him as he walked by, like he was some kind of sideshow attraction.

Not too far from the fire, he saw a lot of movement. It turned out to be Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline doing some sort of dance routine. They were laughing and messing up a lot but didn't stop until they completed it. People drunkenly cheered and Stefan joined in as he walked up to them.

"That was good. Mostly," Stefan grinned to Caroline, who happened to be the closest to him.

She raised her eyebrows before letting out a fit of giggles. "It's supposed to be our new cheer! I'm the captain of the cheerleading team and I wanted to make sure the moves worked." Her smile was super bright and if it wasn't for the slightly hazy look in her eyes, he might've thought she was just really excited.

"Cheerleader, huh? All three of you?" Bonnie and Elena were standing off to the side, talking until Matt came up and pulled Elena away.

"Yeah, and then Matt and Tyler are on the football team so we're pretty much all together all the time." They started walking to a table that had drinks and food set on it.

"I used to play football. I'm pretty good, actually," Stefan shrugged.

Caroline handed him a cup full of beer before filling one for herself. "Oh? You should totally join the team! Honestly, they kinda suck. It's a bit of a bummer to have to cheer them on."

"Now? The season's already started. Plus I haven't trained-"

"Oh shush, you can't be any worse than they already are," Caroline laughed before taking big gulps of her drink. Stefan swished his around a bit in his cup before taking a sip. A little wouldn't hurt.

"I guess I can try. Who's the coach?"

"You're not talking about Coach Tanner are you?" They turned around to find Tyler behind them with a girl hanging off his arm. She looked way past the point of being okay but he wasn't paying her any mind. "I heard he hates you. Plus the season already started, the most he would do is put you on the bench. Hey, you can be my towel boy," he chuckled, grabbing Stefan's drink and chugging it.

"Is she okay?" Stefan asked, concerned about the girl who looked seconds away from passing out.

"Vicki, stop making me look bad," Tyler angrily muttered at her. "Stand up like a normal person."

"I don't think she can. She needs help." Stefan reached out to hold on to her arm but Tyler jerked her away, almost making her fall on her face.

"Don't touch my girl. She's fine," he sneered at Stefan before walking away, Vicki stumbling behind him.

"Who was that?" Stefan asked Caroline as they watched them make their way to the woods.

"That's Vicki," she sighed. "Matt's older sister and Tyler's sometimes-girlfriend. When he feels like it. And when he's not screwing someone else."

"She seriously did not look okay," he commented, feeling an intense urge to check on her again.

"She hangs out with the stoners, gets high a lot. Tyler probably won't let anything happen to her, though. He gets really possessive."

"I think he likes you too." When Caroline cocked her eyebrow, he explained. "When you came over to me at lunch, he wouldn't stop staring at you."

"Oh, that's nothing," she scoffed. "He's so not my type. Plus he used to tease me in 5th grade about my pigtails and say I was too bossy, I'll never forget that."

Stefan laughed and she joined in after a second. "I bet you were cute back then."

"What, are you saying I'm not cute now?"

Stefan's cheeks burned for a second. "No. I'd definitely say you're hot now." He bit his lip, fearing he was being way too forward but he didn't think she would mind.

Her huge smile almost broke her face. "Really? You think so?"

"Of course, have you looked at yourself?" Caroline blushed and put her head down. "Plus you were so nice to me today, you know? No one else was as welcoming as you were. That ups your hotness factor."

Caroline giggled and took a step closer to him. "I think you're really hot too," she said. "You know, I was worried that you'd like Elena or Bonnie over me."

"Oh?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. She probably wouldn't be saying these things if she wasn't drunk but he was milking it for all it was worth.

"Yeah! I mean Bonnie's not so much of a threat, but everyone always loves Elena so much more than me. It's pretty fucking annoying, actually."

Stefan could see she was starting to get worked up so he took her hand in his. "I don't want Elena or Bonnie, okay? I'm happy with what's right in front of me."

Caroline looked like she was thoroughly swooning, making Stefan's heart beat loudly in his ears. She was pulling him closer, gripping his shirt tightly in her hands. When their bodies were practically flush against each other, she ran her hand up to his hair and began pulling his head down. She stopped when their faces were inches apart but he closed the rest of the distance and sealed their lips together.

She was obviously drunk, directing going for shoving her tongue in his mouth, but he tried to slow her down a bit. His hands cupped her face as he took the lead, giving her a series of short kisses. When he pulled back for good, she looked up at him with a look of confusion.

Before they could say anything to each other, a commotion to their right took all their attention. A red faced Matt was trying to take swings at Damon, who blocked them as if he was bored. Elena was standing to the side, begging them to stop.

Stefan automatically made his way over, not sure which side he should take so he asked Elena what happened.

"I broke up with Matt earlier and he saw me talking with Damon and, I don't know, he thinks I was cheating on him or something," Elena tried to explain, her voice thick with tears.

"Matt, stop!" Stefan yelled at him. Matt struggled as Stefan held his arms down.

"What is wrong with you? She's my girlfriend!" Matt yelled at Damon.

"Not anymore, you punk." Damon looked like he was simmering but trying to keep his temper down. Lord knows what could happen when he is angry and drunk.

"She's seventeen, you pedophile! You're lucky I don't call the cops on you!"

"And you're lucky I don't fire you," Damon shot back. "How are you going to pay the bills then? Your sister? No, she's the one who spends all the money on drugs. Your mom? She's not even in this state. And you don't even know who your dad is."

Matt snapped, throwing Stefan off of him and charging towards Damon. Luckily, Tyler was nearby and intercepted him. Tyler kept telling him to think about football and how pissed Coach would be if he broke his hand or something.

Stefan grabbed Damon by the arm, saying it was time to go before things got even worse. As Stefan dragged his brother to his car, he looked back to find Caroline staring sadly at him. He sucked in a breath, gave her a little wave, and continued trying to get his brother in the Camaro.

"What the fuck was that?" Stefan asked once they were both in the car.

"Little punk got jealous over things that weren't even his business," Damon muttered. His face was so dark, Stefan almost didn't want to push the subject but he knew he had to.

"Why were you talking to Elena? I told you not to be a creep."

"Fuck off. She came up to me," Damon snapped at him.

"Whatever. Just don't make things worse, okay? I'm trying to actually be friends with these people," Stefan told him as he began driving back to their house.

Damon was quiet, but Stefan could tell he was seething inside. Once they got home, they silently parted ways as they got ready to go to sleep. Stefan went up to his room and decided to take a quick shower. He paused in front of the mirror and thought of Caroline as he got everything ready. Why did she look so sad as he was leaving? Why did she look confused after their kiss?

Their kiss. Stefan bit his lip as he thought about it. He wouldn't mind doing that again with her, preferably when she was more sober. One day in this town and he might've already found himself a girlfriend.

He shrugged out of his shirt and flinched when he saw his reflection. The right part of his ribs were bruised black and blue, while a few healing cuts were scabbed over on top of it. There was a huge cut going across his stomach that would result in a nasty scar once it completely healed, but what could he do?

Stefan sighed and made sure the antibiotic cream was ready for when he got out of the shower. There was not much he could do now other than to help them heal as quickly as possible.


	3. The Team

The next day was Saturday and Stefan decided he needed to get away from Damon's sulking so he made his way into town. The town square was cute, in a quaint way. It was the type of place you'd see in a movie. None of the stores had names he recognized so he choose one at random. He was pleased to see it was a cozy bookstore, complete with lounge chairs and the smell of freshly turned pages. It looked much larger inside and Stefan was about to let himself get lost in the books when a familiar person stopped in front of him.

They stared at each other for a few moments, Caroline's face quickly turning pink, before someone interrupted them. "Caroline, did you find- oh, hello." An older blonde with short hair smiled at Stefan. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Stefan Salvatore. He just moved here like yesterday," Caroline said softly, her demeanor a lot more laid back and toned down than he had ever seen before.

"Hello, Stefan. I'm Caroline's mom, Sheriff Forbes."

An unexpected pang went through his chest as he shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you," he said politely.

"Well, I'll leave you two to it while I find this impossible book," she smiled before walking away from them.

Stefan turned more towards Caroline and offered her a small smile. "Hey, Caroline. Did everything end up okay last night?"

She blushed deeper at that. "Yeah, yeah. I mean Matt was really pissed and Elena wouldn't stop crying but no one got really hurt, so..." she shrugged.

"I'm sorry about my brother. He was drunk when we got there so I should've known something would've gone down. I wish I could've stayed longer." He tongue darted out to wet his lip, immediately dragging Caroline's attention down to it.

"Were you... okay... with what I did?" she stuttered out before she lost the nerve to do it.

He furrowed his brow. "With what you did?"

"Kissing you," she breathed out, laughing a little at the end from her nerves.

He let out a chuckle and shifted his feet. "Of course I am. I'm the one who started it."

"But you pulled away," she argued. "You stopped me."

"That's because you were trying to shove your tongue down my throat," he gave a little smirk, causing her blush to deepen. "Which would be fine if it wasn't our first kiss."

"You're saying you want to kiss me more?" He could practically see Caroline's heart soaring while she stood up straighter and actually smiled.

"I do like you. I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't. I just think you had a little too much to drink last night."

"I'm sorry," she said, looking down at the floor. "I just like having a good time."

"Maybe we can hangout sometime, you know, one on one." He couldn't believe he was saying this but he kept going anyway. "Here, give me your phone."

Her hands shook a little as she reached into her purse and handed her phone to him. He put in his number in and sent himself a text. "Aren't you a smooth one," she observed amusedly as he gave her phone back.

"I try, I try." They smiled at each other until her mom came up with a stack of books.

"I couldn't find what I was looking for but these are close enough. Come on, Caroline, we have a lot to do today." Her mom didn't even look back as she chugged the books up to the register.

Caroline gave Stefan one more smile before turning to follow her mom.

They texted each other a few times over the weekend. Mostly it was Caroline acting as if she was interviewing him, shooting him question after question.

_**What's your favorite color?** _

_**When's your birthday?** _

_**Are you going to try out for the football team?** _

_**Do you really need help in chemistry? Because I seriously do take good notes** _

_**Who was your last girlfriend?** _

Stefan laughed when he received the latest text on Sunday night.

_**Why? It's not like you know her.** _

It took about five seconds for Caroline to respond.

_**I need to know what the competition is. Name and reason for breaking up pls** _

Never in his life had he met someone as determined as this girl. Shaking his head, he started writing his reply.

_**Rebekah and because she moved to New Orleans** _

_**So you're saying if she didn't move, you'd still be together?** _

He bit his lip as he thought of how to answer that.

_**I don't know. Maybe. But she did move and now I'm single as a pringle** _

He cringed at the lame phrase but it was too late, he'd already sent the text.

_**Maybe we can fix that ;)** _

Oh boy. She brought out the winky faces. It was getting real now.

_**What about you? Any exboyfriends I should know about?** _

In a town this small, he was bound to meet at least one of them.

_**Just Ben Greenberg. He's a tool on the football team. Do not engage.** _

_**Won't I have to if I join the team?** _

_**Not necessarily. You could probs win a game all by yourself tbh, that's how bad we suck.** _

Stefan couldn't help but laugh and seriously consider joining the team. You know, for the school's sake. Knowing Caroline would be cheering for him while he's on the field would just be a bonus.

_**I'll think about it. No guarantees tho. Tanner hates me with a burning passion.** _

_**Just show him how good you are and he'll HAVE to put you on the team** _

"What are you doing?" Stefan looked up to see Damon hovering by his door.

"Texting someone. What are you doing?" he shot back as he sat up and put his phone down.

"How do you actually have friends? You went to school for one day." Damon crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

"I'm not incapable of making friends," he said, slightly offended. "Don't you know what knocking is?"

"My house, my rules," Damon breathed out, looking at his younger brother as if he was trying to figure him out.

"Well... You can go now."

"Is it that girl you were hanging out with at that party?"

Stefan narrowed his eyes at him. "How do you know about her?"

"I was there, brother. I may have been drunk but I wasn't  _that_ drunk. You like her," he smugly observed.

"Maybe," Stefan shrugged. "What about you and Elena? Do you like her?"

"Mind your own business, Steffy," Damon snapped at him.

Stefan held his hands up in surrender. "Whoa there. I guess you can't take what you dish out."

"I'm the authority figure here, you're gonna show me respect, alright?"

"Whatever you say, Dad," Stefan scoffed before picking up his phone.

Damon clenched his fist but decided to leave before he did something he would regret later. The last thing he ever wanted was to be compared to his father and Stefan was pushing his buttons in every way. In a little corner of his mind, he was slightly worried about how angry a simple conversation was making him, but he knew the difference between him and Guiseppe was he was walking away now.

Stefan sighed once his brother finally left. He sincerely hoped his brother didn't like his potential friend. It could influence Matt's opinion of him, and by extent the rest of the group. Stefan couldn't afford to not have friends, not after having a taste of what it was like with Caroline.

She hasn't texted him back so he got ready for bed. He planned on begging and pleading Mr. Tanner for a spot on the football team and he prayed that the team was as bad as Caroline said so he would at least have a fighting chance of making it.

Monday started off as normal as it could. Damon was dead asleep in his bed while Stefan was getting ready. The bus stopped at the end of his driveway and everyone stared at him again while he boarded. You'd think they'd never seen a new student before.

Stefan felt a bit alone once they got off at school until he saw a particular blonde coming out of a white Charger. She smiled as soon as she noticed him so he quickly made his way over to her.

"What's with the bag?" she questioned him, looking at a black duffel bag slung across his shoulder.

"I decided to take your advice. I'm trying out for the football team."

Caroline flashed him a million watt grin. "Oh yeah? When you win your first game all by yourself, make sure you mention me in your post-victory speech."

"You'd love that, wouldn't you?" he smirked.

He looked so cute in that moment, Caroline lost her train of thought for a little bit. "Just make sure you woo Tanner with that charm, otherwise he won't let you see the field," she told him just before the bell rang. Regrettably, they parted ways to head to their separate classes.

As soon as Mr. Tanner saw Stefan, he glared at him. Instead of looking down like he assumed Tanner wanted him to, Stefan lifted his chin and walked confidently to his seat. He wouldn't be intimidated by him just because he hated him. Stefan was better than that.

Class went by quickly and Stefan tried to refrain from answering every question when the room was silent. He couldn't help it, he was a history buff. He believed that you had to know where you came from to know where you were going, plus he found the past fascinating. However, he was more than ready for class to end so he could see Caroline again.

When he walked into their chemistry classroom, she was already set up with her notebook out, pens perfectly aligned, and a smile glued to her face. He smiled back and took his seat across from her.

"How was Tanner today?" she asked him as their teacher began setting up.

Stefan couldn't help smirking. "A pain in the ass, but what else is new?"

"Do you think he'll let you try out for the team?"

"I won't know unless I try," he shrugged and looked at the front board.

Caroline leaned forward with a devious smile. "Either way, I'll give you a treat after practice, okay?"

He raised his eyebrows slightly at her words. "What kind of treat?"

She gave him a wink but didn't say anything else.

Class went by quickly and Stefan was excited to get to lunch - until he saw Tyler glaring him down. He tried to ignore it as he sat between Caroline and Elena and sent a shy smile to the rest of the table, but Tyler's eyes were burning holes in his head.

Caroline seemed to notice it too. "Do you have a problem?" she snapped at him.

Tyler's eyes flickered over to her for a second before setting back on its steely gaze on Stefan. "Is this loser actually trying to join the team? Coach could use a good laugh today."

"Lay off," Bonnie said, rolling her eyes. She didn't even know what he was doing here. The only reason he hung out with them was because of Matt, but he's been staying far away from Elena ever since they broke up. None of the girls had any ties to him so his presence was a mystery.

"No, seriously, do you really think Coach will let you just walk on the team? Screw that, you think  _I_  will just let you walk on the team? This is my turf and you better back the hell away before I make you."

Stefan raised his eyebrows, surprised at the threat. They were still talking about a high school football team, right? "I think that's up to the coach to decide," he responded calmly, peeling the crust off his sandwich.

"What makes you think he'll say anything  _other_  than no?"

"Maybe the fact that I'm good at the sport." Stefan didn't need to look around to see that they had an audience. He could feel all the eyes on him.

"Yeah, right, and I'm the queen of England," Tyler barked out with a little laughter.

"Well that explains the hissy fit you just threw." The cafeteria was silent while Tyler fumed, trying to think of something to say.

It got more awkward by the second, and finally Stefan couldn't take it. Sighing, he stood up and threw his half eaten lunch away. "See you later," he muttered to the girls, almost missing the triumphant look on Tyler's face. Almost.

He wasn't really sure who won that round, or even why they were fighting in the first place. Stefan had never done anything against Tyler. If (i.e. when) he made the team, they would be teammates and would have to work together. Something told Stefan things wouldn't go that smoothly.

The rest of the day crawled by as doubts started growing in Stefan's head. What if he  _didn't_  make the team? What if as soon as Tanner saw him step onto the field, he immediately orders him to leave? What if Tyler successfully harasses him for  _two years_  before he could finally leave this place?

He was in the middle of English when he realized he couldn't live his life obsessing over what could happen. So what if he didn't make the team? He didn't come here planning to do this. He just wanted to keep a low profile here, just blend it. After that spectacle in the cafeteria, though, he wasn't sure if that goal was possible anymore.

He didn't plan on Caroline happening. She seemed so excited that he wanted to try out for the team, that she could cheer him on during games, that he never wanted to let her down. And yeah, he also loved to play football, so it wasn't as if he was just doing this for some girl.

Some girl. Is that what Caroline is?

He was brought out of his thoughts when the last bell of the day rang. He went to his locker and grabbed his equipment and headed out to the football field.

* * *

"Alright girls, let's go through a few stretches first before we learn this new routine." Half of Caroline's attention was on the group of girls bending in all different directions while the other half was on the bronze haired boy who had just stepped onto the field in some borrowed equipment. Wait, did she say boy? She practically drooled as he put on his helmet and ran to catch a pass. His sinewy but lithe body twisted through the air as he had to stretch to reach the ball. Just when she thought it was out of reach for him, his hands closed around it and he landed neatly on the ground. Yes, he was definitely all man.

"Caroline? Caroline?" She snapped her attention back to Elena, who was practically waving in her face. "Are you going to show everyone the moves or what?"

"You know what, you know the beginning, why don't you get them started," Caroline said as her eyes wandered back to the other side of the field. Stefan was getting ready to throw the ball and the sun was hitting his biceps  _just_  right...

"Whatever you say," Elena rolled her eyes and turned to the rest of the girls.

Caroline knew she was being obvious with her staring, but she couldn't help it. She was not kidding when she said the team sucked, but maybe they seemed even worse now compared to the raw talent that he possessed. She knew it wasn't just her putting him on a pedestal because the rest of the team seem amazed with the passes he could catch. Even Tyler looked impressed, even though it was obvious it killed him to feel that way.

It didn't take long for Tyler to do something about it. The next time the ball came Stefan's way, Tyler charged him, his shoulder roughly dragging him to the ground by his stomach. Caroline's hands flew up to cover her mouth and she gasped while Tanner ran up to him. She couldn't hear what they were saying but it took another minute before Stefan was up and then he was gingerly walking to the locker room all by himself.

When she saw that the rest of the football team was going to continue playing as if nothing had happened, she turned to her own group. "Well, girls, that was a great practice! Try to remember these for tomorrow!"

"But Car-" Bonnie tried to call her back but she was already ten paces away from the rest of them.

When she entered the nearly empty locker room, all she could hear were a few groans of pain and her own heart beating in her ears. She tried to calm herself when she turned the corner and saw Stefan facing away from her while buttoning up his shirt.

"That looked like it hurt."

He almost jumped when he heard her voice but instead he quickly turned around. "What are you..." he trailed off, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I saw that dickwad tackle you. He was just jealous you're so much better than he is." Stefan smiled at that but didn't say anything. "Did you at least make the team?"

"Yeah, yeah, Tanner was impressed," he sighed, almost as if it was a bad thing.

"If that's so, then what's wrong?"

Stefan grimaced and gestured to his stomach. "It just hurt like a bitch, you know?"

She took slow deliberate steps towards him and held her breath for a second. "I can help with that. Remember that treat I was going to give you?"

Stefan cocked his head to the side and nodded with a curious expression. Once she reached him, she stood on her tip toes and connected her mouth with his. He was obviously surprised at first but quickly got into it. He was disappointed when she pulled away but it quickly turned into shock when she dropped to her knees and tugged on his waistband.

"Is this okay?" she whispered almost innocently, as if her hand wasn't currently sneaking into his pants.

"Uhh... Ye-yeah," he stuttered, already halfway hard.

Her hands were soft as she gripped him and started a gentle rhythm to get him fully up. He was twitching in anticipation when she licked her lips and gave him a little smirk. Her hands massaged the base as she took the tip of him into her mouth and sucked.

He prayed to God that no one came in,  _especially_  Tyler. Tyler would probably murder him right then and there. No. Wait. Why was he thinking about Tyler right now?

Caroline did a thing that sent a particularly jolting shiver down his back and drew out an embarrassingly loud moan. If he was in the right mind, he might've noticed how hard she was trying not to smile at his responses. She used her spit as lube for her hands as she began pumping him more rigorously. As his breaths grew shorter and shorter, she pulled out more tricks until he was coming in her mouth. She swallowed every drop before pulling back and licking her lips with a devilish grin.

Stefan couldn't even speak. He just stared down at her in awe as she righted his clothes and stood up. "There's more where that comes from," she purred while fluffing up her hair. "Just think of it as a reward for being good."

If that's what he got for making the football team, he couldn't wait to see what'll happen when he starts winning games for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates might not be that frequent since I ran out of prewritten chapters and I'm writing two other stories, but bear with me.


	4. The Suit

 The next time Stefan saw Caroline was Tuesday at school, where she was laughing as she hung up a huge poster in front of the school. _Get Your Flappers Ready! Twenties Decade Dance Friday At 8_.

Before he could grimace, Caroline turned around and squealed when she saw him. She quickly made her way down the ladder she was standing on, thanking a guy who helped her with a smile before heading towards Stefan. "Isn't this great! I know it's late notice but the school board just gave us the okay to throw this dance so we only have a few days to throw it together but I'm confident that we can do it."

He didn't know so many words could come out of her mouth in such a short amount of time. "You're planning this?"

"Of course! I'm head of the student dance planning committee, along with our recycling program, police raffle, Mystic Falls beautification committee, and the go green campaign. Oh, and of course I'm the cheerleading captain." She gave him a thousand watt smile as she pulled him into a hug.

He stiffened a little at first, still not used to human contact like this, but eventually eased into it. "Wow. I had no idea you were so involved."

"I try my best. What about you? What things are you into?"

He gave a half shrug and looked away. School spirit wasn't his forte. "Just football. I'm not really into being around a lot of people at once."

"You're going to the dance though, right?" She pouted up at him with her big blue eyes, making it impossible to look away.

Sighing, he caved. "Only if you keep me company."

"So we're going together? Is that your way of asking me?"

He slyly smiled and shrugged. "Tell me the color of your dress and I'll try to match."

Caroline looked like she was going to explode from excitement. "I can tell you now, imagine a classic light amaranth flapper dress, just cut a little more fashionably."

"I have no idea what color that is," he pursed his lips.

She rolled her eyes. "It's kinda like hot pink with a dash of purple, okay?"

"Gotcha." Arms wrapped together, they walked into school. Caroline seemed to glow as she greeted everyone who looked at them. He kind of felt like the male equivalent of a trophy wife with the way she seemed to parade him around. His old girlfriend used to do the same, but for some reason it didn't bother him as much as it did before. In fact, he almost liked the way people looked at him like he was important. Like he mattered.

They regrettably had to part for their classes when they heard the first warning bell ring. "Don't forget to get something at least hot pink," she raised her eyebrows at him as she snaked her arms around his neck.

"You just told me about this dance like five minutes ago. Don't worry, it'll be fine." Knowing what she wanted, he leaned down and gave her a peck on the lips. Satisfied, she gave her hair a flip before strutting down the hall to her class. Stefan smiled and shook his head in disbelief. The confidence this girl had was unbelievable.

He made his way to his seat in the back, surprised when he saw Elena sitting next to him. She usually sat in the middle of the room, but she gave him a reserved smile when he went to sit down. "Hey, Stefan," she quietly said.

"What's up?" He was a little concerned because she had bags under her eyes, probably indicating she wasn't sleeping well.

"Oh, nothing... It's just..." she took a breath and looked down. "I think Matt hates me."

"Because you broke up with him? I'm sure he's mad, but-"

"No, it's more than that. He can't even look me in the eye anymore. He thinks I cheated on him with your brother."

"Did you?" Stefan asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No!" she scowled at him. "I wouldn't do that. It's not my fault that I don't like him as much as he likes me. Is that a crime?"

Stefan shrugged and settled back in his seat. "It's not, but if he really does like you, this must hurt a lot."

Elena groaned and slumped across her desk. "I don't want to live my life based on what he would want me to do, you know? It's really none of his business if I want to date Damon or not."

"Do you?"

She looked down, a bit insecure. "Only if he wants to. I mean, gosh, every woman in this town throws themselves all over him, and who am I to compare?"

"What do you mean?" Stefan was thoroughly confused. If Elena hadn't noticed how love struck his brother was by her, she had to be blind.

"He's 25, what would he want with a girlfriend who can't even drink legally? Ugh, he probably already has one anyway."

"No, he doesn't," Stefan chuckled. "You know he's not one to keep a girl around."

"Even more reason to not pursue him," she pursed her lips and looked forward when Mr. Tanner walked in.

Stefan leaned over to her desk as the teacher wrote on the board. "You never know if you don't try," he told her, barely believing the fact that he was encouraging this. "You know this dance on Friday? Maybe I can see if he wants to chaperon. Just make sure you're there."

"Alone?" she said with a sour look on her face.

"You can go with Bonnie," he suggested.

"I think my brother wants to ask her," she tried to contain a giggle but failed.

Stefan chuckled as well and leaned back in his seat. "We can all go as a group."

"You're going with Caroline?" When he nodded in confirmation, she sighed. "I guess I'll just go alone. Jeremy would be so pissed if I took Bonnie out from under him. But Caroline would be even more pissed if I was there to distract you from her." Mr. Tanner was already teaching, but they kept whispering in the back.

"She really is jealous of you, isn't she?"

Elena shrugged then hesitantly nodded. "I don't know why, but she's always been competing with me and Bonnie with everything. I think she even liked Matt for a while but he asked me out instead freshman year. I was also homecoming queen last year, even though she campaigned like crazy. I wasn't even trying to win, and I think that's what pissed her off the most."

"That's understandable," he nodded. "I just don't want her to feel threatened by you because, no offense, but you're not really my type."

Elena let out a small laugh, which caused Tanner to glare at them briefly. "Right back at you," she winked at him, and they tried to hold in their laughs as they struggled to take notes on whatever war Tanner thought was more important than their talk.

* * *

 

Caroline offered him a ride home on Thursday, half so she could get some alone time with him and half so she could see if his tux at least somewhat matched her dress. "So everyone else on the committee wanted to have a 60s night but we did that last year!" Caroline ranted at him as she drove away from the school. "Plus everyone used it as an excuse to dress up like hippies and get high in the parking lot. We were almost banned from ever having dances again but I managed to smooth things over."

"How did you do that?" He was slightly scared by the way she drove, taking turns as if they were a last minute thought and almost crashing into the car in front of them at every red light.

"I told the administration that it was a very authentic recreation of the time period and that such a minor drug was abundant in that decade."

"They took that as an excuse?"

"They ate that shit up," Caroline giggled. "Half of them were teens in the 60s anyway so I'm sure they remembered what it was like then. We just got some of our budget cut for prom but I made it work anyway."

He knew she was dying for him to ask about it, so he did. "What did you guys do for prom?"

"Since I was a sophomore, I couldn't go, but I was on the committee so I helped set it up and God, it was so gorgeous," she gushed. "It was at the Lockwood Mansion since Mayor Lockwood gave us permission to hold it in the banquet hall and their backyard, which, let me tell you, is more like a national park than someone's backyard like you're thinking. We decorated for a Vegas theme so we had tables for faux gambling and decorative slot machines. Everyone came dressed super slutty but so was I and I wasn't even attending so I can't judge." Stefan laughed as she made the turn up his driveway. Her eyes got wide as she took in the size of his house. "Wow! This almost puts the Lockwood Mansion to shame. Why didn't you ever tell me you were rich like this?"

"It never came up," he shrugged. "Besides, I'm not like super rich. This house has been in my family for over a century. My family used to be slave owners and they made a fortune down here, but a lot of the money dwindled away after the Civil War. All of it was invested in this house so we never saw much money until my dad moved us up to Richmond to work for a corporation." His throat started choking up when he mentioned his dad but he cleared it and looked out the window.

"I see," Caroline said, sensing the tension in the car. "My family doesn't nearly have that much money. My mom is the sheriff, as you know, and my dad... He's not really in the picture anymore." She had pulled up in front of the house so they both got out of the car and made their way to the door. Stefan noted Damon's car as well.

"Do you still talk to him?" he asked as he dug in his pockets for the house keys.

"Yeah, I mean I still love him and all, but he left me and my mom for someone else."

"Oh, so you're the one with the gay daddy, aren't you?" Damon smirked as he opened up the door before Stefan had a chance.

Stefan looked at Caroline quizzically but she held her chin high and stared Damon down. "Yes, my dad lives with his boyfriend now, but I don't see how that's any of your business." She strode into the house without an invitation and waited patiently for Stefan to come in as well.

"Sweetie, it's everyone's business when the sheriff's husband runs away with one of her deputies," Damon chuckled, closing the door behind his brother.

"Stefan, can we please just go up to your room?" she practically pleaded him. There was a fire in her eyes that was masking pain. Stefan shot his brother a disapproving look before taking Caroline's hand and leading her to the stairs.

"Just don't get too loud," his brother called after him, making him roll his eyes.

"I'm sorry about that," he apologized to her once they got into his room. "Damon can be an ass."

"You can say that again," she sighed as she plopped down on his bed. "I just hate how everyone knows." Stefan looked at her but didn't push for more, knowing she would talk when she was ready to. "That's what I hate about this town, everyone knows everything about everybody. People joked for months that my mom turned my dad gay because she wasn't, like, sleeping with him enough or anything. Or that her and I were so uptight that we drove him away from women."

"You know that's not true," he tried to assure her. "Of course I know that, but it's still stupidly annoying when people are always whispering behind your back." She sighed again and looked at him. "You wouldn't understand. You didn't grow up in a microscopic town."

"I didn't," he agreed, sitting down next to her. "But people talked about my family too, especially since my dad was running for mayor in a city."

Caroline held her breath as she gathered up courage for her next question. "What exactly happened to your dad anyway?"

His face turned dark and he looked away. "I already told you. He died in a car accident."

"Was he drunk?" He stiffly nodded. "Is that why you wouldn't drink at the party?" When he nodded again, she slipped her hand into his. "Were you in the car with him?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said coldly, throwing her off balance. She pulled her hand away from his, making him look up at her. He sighed and took her hand again. "I'm sorry, it's just a sore subject, okay? It hasn't even been a week yet."

"I'm sorry for asking," she said in a small voice. She seemed a little scared and cautious, so he rubbed his thumb over her hand as he leaned in for a kiss.

It seemed to calm her down because she became less tense as she loosely gripped his hair. He wrapped an arm around her and scooted her down until she was lying beneath him. They moved seamlessly together; her leg curling around his hip, his hand drawing a line from her jaw down to her breast. Her breaths started coming out in chokes and moans as his hand crept under her shirt and began palming her. She could feel him start to harden against her when she rolled her hips up to his. His mouth traveled down her neck with wet kisses, making her heart race even faster. He made quick work of her shirt, leaning run his tongue down the valley between her breasts. She could feel herself become wetter as his lips closed around a nipple through the fabric of her bra. She quickly switched their places and straddled him.

Though she caught him by surprise, he still had her bra flung across the room before she could move again. In response, she pulled his shirt up over his head. She saw his grinning face for a second before he closed the distance between them for another heated kiss. She could barely stop herself from rocking against him, making them both moan. His eyes were fully blown black in anticipation. She forced herself to stop the sinfully good movements so she could undo his jeans. Once his zipper was undone, he turned them over so he could slip them off in a better position. He swiftly unbuttoned her pants and helped her wiggle out of them.

"Maybe you shouldn't wear such skinny jeans," he teased her while running his hands up her legs once the struggle was over.

"Oh, shut up." Determined to wipe the grin off his face, she slipped her hands into the back of his boxers and cupped his ass. He let out a breath of surprise as she pushed the fabric out of the way.

Finally, he was completely unclothed and the sight of him made her mouth water. She was beyond excited to go further, but she hesitated when he made a move to rid her of her underwear.

"Do you have a condom?" she half whispered to her, embarrassed to even be asking this. Usually her hookups were much more planned than this and she had one on her, but she was unprepared this time.

He paused and furrowed his eyebrows. "I- no I just moved here..." He had a faraway look in his eyes as he thought. "Maybe Damon... I mean, Damon definitely has some."

Caroline choked out a laugh before straightening her face again. "You should go get it."

He just stared at her for a few seconds, and she was scared that he was backing out. How humiliating would it be if he kicked her out right now, almost completely naked beneath him. Fortunately, he nodded and scooted off the bed to find his underwear. "I'll be right back," he told her before leaving his room and sneaking down the hall.

Stefan was praying with every fiber in his body that he wouldn't run into Damon on his quest, not because he'd be in trouble, but because of the merciless teasing Damon would curse him with forever.

It all proved to be in vain when he ran smack into his brother around a corner. Damon reached out to stop him from falling before he noticed his brother's attire. His blue eyes were wide in surprise and confusion. "Where did you get those bruises from?" he immediately questioned.

Stefan looked down at his torso and realized the sickly black and yellow streaks along his stomach were unsightly. He was lucky Caroline hadn't noticed them yet, but they were pretty preoccupied before. "Football," he answered uncomfortably as he wrapped his arms around his middle.

"What kind of program is your school running?" Damon asked gruffly, unsatisfied with the answer.

"I don't know. Now if you'll excuse me..." Stefan hoped that his brother wouldn't say anything else, but of course, his hopes were dashed.

"Top drawer in the dresser to the right of my bed." When Stefan turned around to look at Damon quizzically, he was met with his brother's signature smirk. "You were looking for some protection for some playtime with Caroline, weren't you?"

Stefan felt his entire body burn red. He didn't even bother to answer as he just hurried down the hall to his brother's room. It wasn't like he could go back empty handed, so he went to the end table on the right of his bed and, yep, they were there. He grabbed two, just in case, before making the dreadful trek back to his room. Luckily, Damon was nowhere to be found on the return trip.

Caroline was sitting very patiently on his bed and smiled widely when Stefan returned. "There you are," she sighed, still undressed down to her panties. "I thought you were attacked or something."

"Almost," Stefan chuckled as he sat on the bed next to her. "I ran into Damon."

Her face soured as she took both packets from him and put one on the table next to the bed. "I'd rather if we didn't talk about him," she confessed as she unwrapped the one in her hand. Just seeing her hold a condom was getting him excited again. "But first, what's up with your stomach?"

He frowned, dreading this question. Of course she would have a good look at him when he came back in the room. "It's just from football," he shrugged as he took his boxers off again.

He could see that her attention was divided by the way she stared down at him, but she tried to stay on topic. "From when Tyler tackled you?" Her voice was low and hesitant, and he realized she was actually sad.

He reached out and cupped her cheek with one of his hands. "Don't worry about it, okay?" he murmured to her. "I can take care of myself. Right now this is about you and me."

He could see her resolve melt as she gave him a little smile and reached down to roll the condom on him. He held his breath as she handled him gently, with the utmost care. She moved so she was on his lap again, this time without any clothing between them. His arms wrapped around her back to anchor her to him while she grasped his hair in between her fingers. Their lips lazily rubbed together while she shifted herself to make him rub deliciously against her. After about a minute of this, he grew impatient. He locked his hands on her hips and guided her slowly down his length.

They both gasped as her heat tightly enveloped around him. Once she took him in completely, they looked at each other with a renewed ardor. One of his hands stayed clasped on her hip while the other trailed up her back. She rocked back and forth a little, moaning as he rubbed against her in just the right way. Her hands slid down to his shoulders where she found the leverage to start a bouncing rhythm. He helped her and soon the only sounds in the room were their panting and the creaks from his bed.

"That's so good," Caroline moaned as she threw her head back and tightened around him. Stefan was in so much bliss, he couldn't even form words. He leaned back and tilted her in the opposite direction, making Caroline practically scream out in pleasure. He was amazed at how close she was after only a few minutes but he continued thrusting up into her anyway. He could feel himself coming to an end so he began rubbing small circles on her clit. It spelled the end for her.

She completely tensed up in his arms so he held on to her tighter in fear that she would fall off the bed. Her inner walls were massaging him thoroughly, he almost blacked out when he came as well. They ended up sprawled across his bed, Caroline trying not to catch her breath on his chest.

"Damn," Stefan muttered, making her look up at him. "That was amazing."

Smiling brightly, Caroline slowly got up once her legs stopped feeling wobbly. He watched her curiously as she made her way into his closet. He was slightly alarmed when she let out a little shriek but she came out even happier than she was before. "You got the right color!" she squealed at him before climbing into the bed again.

Stefan was confused for a few seconds until he realized she was talking about the suit he was supposed to wear to the dance. "Caroline," he chuckled. "Don't ever change."

She snuggled into his chest as they rested, waiting for their heart rates to go down. Her thoughts were filled with the dance; what could go wrong, what could go right, and everything in between. His thoughts were just filled with Caroline.


	5. The Dance

"Remind me when you asked me to chaperon this thing?" Damon was lounging on the couch, watching his younger brother pace around trying to make sure he was completely ready.

Stefan looked at the glass filled with amber liquid in his brother's hand before undoing his tie for the millionth time to make it straighter. "You may have been drinking when I asked."

"And why did I agree?"

"I may have promised more drinking."

Damon looked at his own drink and shrugged. "Plausible. Now come on. I'm willing to bet you spent more time getting ready than Caroline did."

"Why do we have to take the same car?" Stefan groaned. He didn't want Damon getting anywhere near Caroline after upsetting her yesterday.

"One, you don't have a car, so either you ride with me or you get Caroline to pick you up. And two, you're the designated driver." Damon dangled his keys in front of Stefan's face and grinned when he took them.

"Don't you ever get tired of drinking yourself into oblivion?"

"Don't you ever get tired of being a broody goody two shoes?" he shot back.

Stefan reached his arm out to block Damon's path to the car. "I'm serious. You can't keep doing this."

"Or what? I'll end up like Dad?" When Stefan's stoic face didn't change at all, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Stefan. I'm not as dependent on it as Dad was, okay? Hell will freeze over before I start acting like him."

Stefan nodded his head and let out a slightly shaky breath before letting his brother get in the car. Damon would never know how much he truly hated how much he drank, but Stefan let it slide for now. "You know you're getting in the back once Caroline gets here, right?"

"Yeah, right," Damon snorted. After a few seconds, it became clear Stefan wasn't joking. "You can't be serious. This is my car!"

"Yeah, well I have the keys. So either you shut up and get in the back or I'm leaving you here."

"You're the one who's forcing me to this dance!" Damon angrily exclaimed, but he let his brother start the car anyway. "I sure as hell don't want to stand around watching some teenagers grind on each other all night."

"Not even for Elena?" When his brother narrowed his eyes at him, Stefan fessed up. "She's the only reason I asked you to chaperon. She wants you there and as long as you don't act like a dick, I think it's okay."

"You don't get to tell me what to do," Damon tried to correct him, but the thought of Elena wanting him at the dance made his retort less sour.

"I don't care what you do, but please remember that she's in high school and thinks you're too mature for her, so don't prove her too horribly wrong."

"Ha ha. Shouldn't you be nicer now that you got laid?"

Stefan could feel his face burning but he kept staring forward. "This is me being nice."

"Oh, you were a lot nicer to Caroline last night, weren't you?" He just knew his brother had a huge stupid smirk on his face but he couldn't bear to turn and see it.

"That's none of your business."

"It is when you take some of my rubbers. I can't have you wasting them."

"What if I told you we just made balloon animals all night?"

"I'd call bullshit, unless you make a habit of walking around the house half naked with a lady friend over." Damon's lips suddenly turned into a frown. "Did she ask you about the bruises?"

Stefan shrugged. "Yeah."

"What did you tell her?"

"The same thing I told you, because it's the truth."

"If you really got fucked up that bad from football, you should quit. It's not worth it."

"I'm dealing with it, alright? It's just this one guy hates me for like no reason and he's best friends with Elena's ex, so you're not really helping."

"Sure, blame it on me," Damon rolled his eyes.

"I'm not blaming you, I'm just saying. They're not really welcoming on the team."

"All the more reason to quit."

Stefan bit his lip for a second before saying why he was really playing football. "Caroline wants me to play because she's the head cheerleader."

"Are you serious right now? You're only doing this for a girl?"

"I like playing football too! Besides, if I want to get in college or something, I need some extra curricular activities on my transcript since I'm not doing anything else." Stefan's interest in the conversation was waning.

"Wow, Stef, way to nerd out on me."

"Just because you didn't have any aspirations in life doesn't mean I'll be the same."

Damon refrained himself from responding because he knew whatever he said would not help the situation. "Isn't that your girl's house up ahead?" he asked gruffly.

Stefan looked down at the address Caroline had sent him and sure enough, the quaint light blue house was hers. Butterflies were swarming in his stomach but he shoved them down as he parked in her driveway. "Be nice," he warned his older brother.

"This is me being nice," Damon mimicked him, making him roll his eyes.

Ignoring his idiot of a brother, Stefan wiped his sweaty hands on his pants as he made his way up to the Forbes' front door. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous, but he knew he didn't want to disappoint Caroline. This was her night, her dance, and he knew she would be very upset if it didn't go as planned.

His knuckle barely landed on the door before it flew open. Caroline was beaming at him as she slightly moved so the tassels on her dress swayed along with her. This caused his eyes to trail down her body as he took in her outfit. He was more than happy to find out that his tie indeed matched her dress perfectly. She also wore white elbow length gloves and her hair was pinned up in curls to mimic the 20s bob.

"Wow, you go all out, don't you?"

Caroline let out a soft laugh and gathered her bag before shutting the door behind her. "It's kind of my thing. I never do anything half assed." There was a little twinkle in her eye that told Stefan he'd want to remember that for later.

Her steps faltered a bit when she saw Damon sitting in the car. "Don't worry about him. I told him not to bother you."

"But what is he doing here in the first place?" She had a tiny bit of disgust in her voice that she was not trying to mask at all.

"Listen: he likes Elena. Elena likes him. I'm thinking if he finally got a steady girlfriend, he would have less time to butt into my life, you know?"

"Oh, and here I was thinking you were trying to be a good person," Caroline joked once they finally made it to the car. Ever the gentleman, Stefan opened the passenger door for her. Her bright smile was dimmed once she sat inside and encountered a boozy stench.

"Blondie," Damon greeted her from the back seat.

She only spared him a glance before facing forward again. "Dick Face," she replied back.

Damon rolled his eyes as his brother got in the driver's seat. "Come on, you know I was just playing around. No harm done, right?"

Caroline didn't answer him, but she loosened up a bit when Stefan put his hand on her lap.

"It's not like I said anything that wasn't true," Damon tried to reason with her.

"Damon, I don't want to talk about this, least of all with you, so please just stop."

Looking through the rear view mirror, Stefan saw an almost impressed expression on his brother's face before he laughed it away. "Whatever you say, Blondie."

Things remained relatively tame the rest of the way to the dance. When Stefan pulled up to the school, he was surprised to see his older brother looking nervous. He kept fiddling with his tie and wiping his sweaty hands on his pants. "You'd think you were on the date and not me," Stefan murmured to his brother before heading to the other side of the car for Caroline. He didn't listen for a reply because he suddenly realized something. They were at a dance. Caroline organized this dance, so presumably she liked dances. He would be expected to dance.

Stefan had never ever danced for fun. Sure, he had danced with his ex-girlfriend and even his old friends, but only because they made him. It usually took a lot of bribing either way, but he knew he couldn't let it drag on that long. This was for Caroline. He couldn't imagine how let down she'd be if he refused to dance at an event she put on herself.

He tried rolling his shoulders to loosen up his nerves before opening the door for Caroline. She smiled graciously up at him and allowed him to lead her up to the school. Stefan was impressed when they walked into the gym. It was completely converted into something else. There were a lot of twinkling lights and chandeliers to illuminate the red, black and white theme. Already seated at a table, Elena and Bonnie quickly waved them over.

"Caroline, you really did it!" Elena gushed to her as she looked around the entire place.

"Yeah, it's amazing," Bonnie chimed in.

"Thanks guys!" Caroline was just beaming with pride. "Hey, Bonnie, where's your date?"

Bonnie blushed and ducked her head down. "Jeremy's going to get me some punch."

"Jeremy?!" Caroline nearly screeched while her eyes shot over to Elena. "You're okay with this?"

"It's my brother's life," Elena laughed it off. "Speaking of brothers," she nervously said while looking at Stefan, "where's yours?"

"Oh, he's here somewhere. He's probably just checking in or something," he assured her, causing her to relax more in her chair.

Jeremy finally came back with two cups filled to the brim with a red liquid. He eyed Stefan momentarily since he didn't really know him before passing a cup to Bonnie. "Sorry you had to wait, the line was long," he apologized sincerely.

Bonnie gave him a reassuring smile and took a sip before promptly spitting it out. "What's in this?" she gasped as her face soured up from the taste.

All eyes turned to Jeremy. He held his hands up in surrender. "I didn't do anything to it, I swear!"

Stefan took his drink and sniffed it. "It smells like some kind of alcohol."

Caroline's eyes widened. "You don't think Damon...?"

"You don't think I what? Spike the punch?" Damon mocked her as he walked up to the group. "Not really my style, wasting my stash on people like you." His eyes zeroed in on Elena and he paused for a second. "I'd blame that Lockwood kid. I saw him lurking around the bowl when I was coming in."

There was a bit of an awkward silence where Damon and Elena were practically eye fucking while Jeremy was so flustered, he could barely look Bonnie in the eye. Stefan took it upon himself to get him and his date away from it. He held out an arm to Caroline and said lowly to her, "Can I have a dance?"

There was that smile again. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of it. He knew right then that he made the right decision. Any choice that made Caroline grin like that was the right one.

They made their way to the middle of the floor. Luckily, a slow song was on so Stefan didn't actually have to show off any dance moves. He was even happier about it when she wrapped her arms around his neck and he wound his around her waist. They were so close, they were breathing each other's air and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Interesting friends you have there," he said just loud enough to hear.

She snorted and looked back over to their group. Bonnie and Jeremy were still sitting at the table but were talking. She couldn't find Damon or Elena for a second but finally saw them slowly dancing in a dark corner of the room. "Hey, you're the one who brought your brother. But, Jeremy and Bonnie, right? Who would've thought she'd actually be into him?"

"You never know how things will turn out," Stefan shrugged.

Their eyes connected and they slowed down so they were just swaying side to side. "I know it's been a hard... week, really, for you," Caroline started apprehensively while looking at his shoulder. When she looked back up again, he nodded for her to continue. "But I just want to say that I'm really glad that you came to our school and that we got to meet." Caroline started to blush when she remembered that they did a lot more than meet each other last night.

He seemed to catch on to her train of thought and let out a chuckle. "Yeah, I mean out of all of the possible outcomes of... that," he frowned momentarily, "I'm glad this is the way things turned out."

"Do you think you'll be staying here?" she asked hopefully.

"Until I graduate, at least." Her smile was back and was mesmerizing. "You know, I didn't want to come here at first. I didn't want to move to a small town. I didn't want to live with my brother. But right now, all I want is for you to be my girlfriend."

Caroline's breath hitched and she froze for a few seconds, shock written all over her face. Suddenly, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist while her arms locked around his neck. He stumbled back a couple of steps before finding his balance and hugging her back.

"I'll take that as a yes, then?" he said cheekily, making her laugh and pull him into a kiss.

They barely had time to go any further than a peck before Damon was right at their side. "Break it up, love bugs," he sighed and glared at them.

Caroline huffed and pulled away from her new boyfriend. "Why don't you leave us alone and go back to Elena?"

"Oh, I'd love to, except dipshit here volunteered me to chaperon this thing, which Quarterback loves to remind me about."

Stefan looked over to the corner of the gym to see Elena and Matt in a heated discussion. "Why aren't you stopping whatever's happening over there?" he asked his brother, still peeved that he broke the moment he was having with his girlfriend.

"Because he said he'd call the police on us if he saw us together." Caroline and Stefan both looked at him with raised eyebrows but he merely shrugged. "He's got nothing on me. I sign his paycheck that he needs so dearly and now my brother is dating the sheriff's daughter. Oh, yeah, I heard that," he added when their eyebrows rose even higher. "Thanks for not wanting to live with me, sweet little brother of mine."

"You didn't want me to live with you either," he shot back at him, and Damon couldn't deny that. "Anyway, just be careful, okay? If you haven't noticed, Caroline doesn't really like you so don't be so sure that she'd vouch for you."

She gave Damon a fake smile that he lifted an eyebrow to. "Whatever. Matt's not going to know about this anyway. I'll just schedule him with some extra shifts so I have more time to spend with my lady friend," Damon wiggled his eyebrows.

"Wow, okay, time to go somewhere else, Caroline," Stefan said as he began pulling her away. They had only taken a few steps before he felt the familiar feeling of someone watching him. He caught the eyes of both Tyler and Matt as they sulked toward the exit. The hatred in their eyes was so intense, it nearly sent shivers down his spine.

Caroline led him back to the table where Jeremy and Bonnie were so close, they were practically sitting on the same chair. "Do you guys know where Elena went?" she asked them while she checked to make sure her hair didn't become unpinned.

"Not really. I don't exactly keep tabs on my sister," Jeremy answered.

She gave him a little scowl before plopping down on Stefan's lap. "Do you think they finally put some unspiked punch out?"

Stefan raised his eyebrows. "Do you want me to check?"

She gave him a grin and nodded. "Oh! And see if there are any pastries left!"

He had to shift her onto the chair as he got up but it went as smoothly as it could. He was soon in line with a number of other guys, all ordered to the refreshment table by their dates. Someone knocked into him as he was trying to fill up a cup, causing the liquid to spill on his white dress shirt.

"Hey, watch where you're..." Stefan faded off as he realized who it was.

Tyler was glaring back at him with his arms crossed. "Tell your brother to back away from Elena," he simply said, almost daring Stefan to argue with him.

"Listen, I have nothing to do-"

"Call your brother off or I'll make your life a living hell," Tyler ended it with a creepy smirk.

"Like you aren't already," Stefan scoffed, remembering football practice.

Tyler moved until Stefan was backed against the table. "Remember I warned you. Just know you'll get what's coming."

He left after the last threat. Stefan felt a little dizzy. What was that all about? Couldn't Matt handle his own business? While he was a bit worried about his brother, he was also ticked off. It's just his luck to be pulled into drama that wasn't his.

He shook his head and quickly got the refreshments Caroline had requested. He was greeted with the smile again when he brought it back to the table, along with Elena's presence.

"Hey, Stefan, you don't mind if I come over this weekend, do you?" Elena asked him.

Confused, he looked at Caroline only to see her still smiling. "It's not for you, silly," she told him. "Elena can't really be caught with Damon since she's still underage but you're a friend, right?"

He looked back at Elena and nodded. "Right. We're friends. You can come over whenever you want."

"I can come too, yeah?" Caroline whispered into his ear. He shot her a look full of the feelings she was stirring up in him, which she returned. She made him forget about all of the problems he had and now all he wanted to do was be with her.


	6. The Weekend

It was strange, to say the least, to see Damon and Caroline in the same room coexisting. The only reason they weren't bickering was because Elena came over to the Salvatore Boarding House with her and Damon was on his best behavior. Stefan couldn't have been more thankful for Elena's existence.

Caroline dropped into his lap as he sat on the couch, surprising Stefan for a second. She had gladly taken up Damon's offer of a glass of wine and the drink was precariously sloshing as she got herself situated.

"Are you celebrating something?" Stefan asked with a smile. Her good mood was contagious.

"Of course. Damon's behaving – for once – and we're officially dating now. What's not to celebrate?" She took another drink before offering some to him.

"What is it?" he eyed it carefully.

"Just moscato. It's really not that alcoholic but I've had a lot," she giggled. Stefan caved and took a small sip of it before handing it back to her. "Wait, wasn't your dad an alcoholic and that's why you don't drink?" she asked him seriously as she suddenly remembered.

He slowly nodded and looked down. "I've seen how much drinking excessively can change someone. I'm more about moderation; a little here and there but not enough to change who you are."

Caroline felt slightly ashamed of herself. Here she was in her boyfriend's house getting a little bit more than tipsy when he had lost his father to a drunk accident. "I'm sorry," she murmured as she got up to put her drink on a table.

Stefan's arms wrapped around her waist, preventing her escape. "No, it's okay. I'm not judging you or anything, it's just my personal reason why I don't drink. Besides, a little wine is no problem. It's the harder stuff that I hate."

"He hates everything that I like," Damon piped up from his spot on another couch. Elena was curled up right beside him, giggling slightly.

"That's because you drink the nastiest shit ever. Seriously, have you had bourbon?" Stefan turned the question to Caroline.

"I'm kinda more of a fruity drink girl."

"Of course you are," Damon rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I am too," Elena shoved his shoulder. He glared at her for a second before smirking and rubbing her hand with his thumb. Their eyes stayed connected as she scooted even closer to him.

Stefan broke the slightly awkward silence. "So I was thinking about picking up food or something? Since none of us have eaten."

Neither Damon nor Elena answered him, too absorbed in their own world. This was really the first time they were alone without prying eyes (well, Stefan and Caroline didn't count).

Caroline could sense the tension in the air as well. "How about you drive us in my car since you don't have one?"

"Good plan," he quickly agreed and got up. His brother was about two seconds away from jumping Elena and he did  _not_  want to be there to witness it. They swiftly made their way out of the house and decided to go to the Grill. "Why didn't they just go to Elena's house if they were going to be all over each other?" Stefan complained from the driver's seat.

"Well, first of all, Elena lives with her aunt who would  _definitely_ not let them be alone together. Also, Elena's brother is good friends with Matt and Tyler and you know that wouldn't go over well with him," Caroline explained.

"Why aren't we over at your house then?"

"My mom's actually home right now," she grimaced. "Usually she works weekends and nights but she's off tonight. My plans with you definitely don't involve her being in the same house."

He couldn't stop from chuckling and Caroline joined him. "I don't even know if I wanna go back home, judging by how they were looking at each other."

"Your house is huge, we probably won't hear them," she teased him.

They made their way into the Mystic Grill and went to the bar to place a takeout order. Unfortunately, they had to give their order to Matt.

"Hey, Caroline. Stefan," he slightly frowned.

"Hi, Matt," she gave him a small smile. "We just want a platter of wings and fries to go."

"A whole platter? For the two of you?" When they both looked down guiltily, Matt's frown got deeper. "She's over at the house, isn't she?"

"Don't worry about her, okay?" Stefan sighed. "She's just trying to move on with her life, I suggest you do the same."

"And I suggest you find somewhere else to eat," Matt glared at them before turning his back to organize the bottles.

"Matt! You can't just turn us away," Caroline pouted.

"Watch me," he muttered over his shoulder.

"Come on, let's just go," Stefan said as he pulled on her arm.

She huffed but finally followed him out. "Can you believe him?! We've been friends since first grade but he's treating me like dirt under his shoe!"

"It could be worse," Stefan grumbled as they got situated in the car.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed and looked out the window for a second. "At the dance, Tyler kinda threatened me about Damon and Elena getting closer. As if somehow this is my responsibility. As if I actually care about what's going on."

"You have to do something about it." Stefan shook his head and opened his mouth to protest, but Caroline interrupted him. "No, this could be serious. First he hurts you during football, now he's threatening you over stupid shit? We could tell my mom and she'll help us."

"What could she possibly do?" He rubbed his forehead; just thinking about what his life had come to was headache inducing.

"His dad's the mayor and if he finds out his son is about to get in legal trouble, he'll get Tyler to straighten out."

"His dad's the fucking mayor?" Stefan asked incredulously. Though it kind of explained why he was such a self entitled asshole.

"He's a whore for good PR though. He cares more about his image than Tyler so we can probably spin it so he's on our side."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll try to figure it out on my own."

"If he actually tries something, I'm going to my mom, okay?" she warned him.

"If it gets that far, I'll probably go with you," he nodded. "So are we actually going to get food or do you just wanna head back?"

"We should just go back to your house, it's not like anyone would eat the food anyway," she smirked at him.

They weren't too surprised when they got inside the house and were greeted with a trail of clothing leading to the stairs. "I wonder how long they waited until we left?"

"Not long enough," she said as they heard the faint sound of thumping.

"Let's go to my room on the other side of the house," Stefan proposed, which she quickly agreed to. They ended up settling in his bed, laughing over the whole situation. "Right now Matt is sulking over at the Grill while his ex is banging my brother," he shook his head as he laughed. "He really needs to find someone else to obsess over. She's obviously way over him."

"Who can blame her? Your brother's got those sexy, mysterious blue eyes," she purred lowly as her hand crept up his thigh.

"Maybe you should go and join them, then?" It was a little hard for him to think, especially once she started rubbing him through his jeans.

"No, I have a thing for the quiet, broody, green eyed ones." His pants were unzipped and her hand slipped into his boxers. He shifted around so he was free from his material confines. She firmly stroked his cock until it stood up tall and his breathing became labored.

"Come here," he rasped, pulling her shirt over her head and palming her through her bra. "I feel like I've barely seen you."

"Oh, I beg to differ," she breathed when his hand went beneath her bra to tweak her nipple.

"I just wanna explore you more, if that's okay." He finally got her bra completely off and began kissing his way down her chest.

She couldn't respond, not when her back was automatically arching and her arms moving to push him where she wanted him. He smiled against the curve of her right breast as his hand massaged her other breast. He lightly nibbled on her nipple before laving it with his tongue. Pulling back, he was satisfied by the flush that extended down her chest and the way her nipples pebbled under his touch. He dove in again, using his mouth and a hand to keep her breasts company while his other hand traced the waistband of her shorts. His fingers snuck into her panties and gently rubbed against her. She was soaked, slicking up his finger just from one pass. He knew he found her clit when she suddenly jerked up against him. He started making circular motions, feeling the way her body followed his lead.

Soon, it wasn't enough for her anymore. She pulled Stefan's shirt up, disappointed at first when he stopped touching her but the sight of his muscled torso was enough of a reward. He still had a little bruising, but it looked better than it had a few days ago. He kicked his pants all the way off while she stripped off her own.

He had a predatory smirk on his face, one that made her shiver in anticipation as he settled himself between her legs. He fit perfectly, but when she moved to wrap her legs around his waist, he stopped her. He kissed the question off her lips before letting his mouth flutter down her body to the place she needed him most.

She had the sweetest taste he just couldn't get enough of. His tongue swept up as much as he could but it kept coming as she moaned from above. His thumb kept a delicious pressure on her clit as his tongue massaged her walls. She couldn't help the way her legs clamped tightly around his head, but he didn't seem to mind. He worked diligently, switching up patterns every now and then until he could feel her entire body tense. Her thighs shook as she gasped for breath before her entire body relaxed into the bed.

She could see him looking up at her with another smirk, but she didn't care. He well earned any bragging rights he wanted. He reached into his bedside drawer and smiled sheepishly as he pulled out a time, when he settled above her again, he pulled her legs around him. She could feel the tip of him brushing against her entrance so she pulled him into a kiss. He eased himself into her as they both sighed against each other's lips.

He leaned up after a second to pull one of her legs further up. He started a slow rhythm, but each thrust was so deep, Caroline could barely breathe. One of his hands gripped onto her hip, squeezing every time they came together.

She ran her fingers along his side and down his back as he worked them both into a sweat. His muscles rippled with every stroke. She dug her fingers into ass, urging him to go even deeper. Their eyes connected for a second, both dark and filled with desire. Still pressed up inside of her, he interlocked their fingers together and pinned them above her head. Instead of starting up their rhythm again, he grinded against her in circles. His hips were rubbed against her clit in just the right way, it was almost better than before.

He kept it up until she was practically writhing in pleasure. Before she could fall over the edge again, he began pumping into her slowly and gently. It frustrated her immensely to be so close then denied from reaching her happy ending. She moved her hips in tandem with his, speeding up the pace a bit. Stefan let out light groan that somewhat sounded like a laugh. He knew what he was doing to her and he was amused. Indignantly, she clenched her walls around him.

Letting out a choked moan, he dropped his head to her shoulder as he began thrusting in earnest. Caroline would've celebrated her victory if she wasn't dangerously close to coming again. Neither of them could think clearly, they could only feel their bodies colliding over and over along with wet sounds that came with their union.

Too soon, it was too much for Caroline. She hoarsely cried out as she shuddered around him. It spelled his ending as well, with him muffling his groan with her neck. They laid there for a few moments, sweating and shaking and trying to gather the energy to move. Finally, Stefan rolled to the side before scooping her up in his arms. She settled in comfortably, content with the way they were arranged.

"I'm glad you came over," he murmured into her ear before kissing her temple.

"Well, I definitely came, didn't I?" They both chuckled and it wasn't long before Stefan's breath evened off as he fell asleep.

Caroline would've loved to fall asleep in his arms, but her stomach let out a loud grumble before she could do so. She had forgotten they didn't actually get dinner and now her belly wouldn't let her forget it. Satisfied that he was fast asleep, she carefully detangled herself from his arms and got off the bed. She debated just making a run for the kitchen in the nude but realized that probably wasn't a good idea. What if  _Damon_  was down there?! Instead, she grabbed Stefan's shirt off the ground and slipped it on. It reached her midthigh and figuring it was enough, she set off for the kitchen.

The house seemed much bigger in the dark. It was quieter than she'd ever heard it before which slightly creeped her out. She tried to move faster but ran into someone as she turned a corner. She tensed and was about to let out a scream when she realized it was Elena.

"Caroline?" the other girl whispered, probably as terrified as she was.

"Yeah, it's me," she confirmed. As her eyes got used to the low lighting, she could see her friend more clearly. Elena had probably had the same idea as Caroline because she was only wearing a button up shirt, Damon's presumably, and had a sandwich in her hands. "Did you seriously just make yourself a sandwich?"

"I was hungry and there's not that many already prepared food here," Elena defended herself before taking in Caroline's attire. Her eyebrows raised as she looked Caroline back in the eyes. "Besides, weren't you and Stefan supposed to get us dinner?"

"That didn't really work out..." When Elena giggled, she shook her head. "No, not because of... whatever you're thinking. We went to the Grill and Matt was not happy we were getting a platter because he knew you were here. He basically told us to scram so we came back empty handed."

Elena cast her eyes to the ground and shifted on her feet. "Really?" When Caroline nodded, she sighed. "I'm sorry for all this trouble. I don't know why he's still so mad about this. I mean, it's really not a surprise that we broke up."

"Elena, believe me, I don't know why he's still mad either, but you need to fix this. Not only is Matt messing with me and Stefan now, but Tyler-" Caroline cut herself off, eyes wide.

"Tyler, what?" Elena inquired suspiciously.

"Listen, I don't think Stefan wants me to tell anyone, but Tyler's been threatening him. You saw what he did to him during football, can you imagine what he'll do now that he's actually got a reason to hate him?"

"It's none of Tyler's business," Elena shook her head in disbelief. "I don't know why he-"

"I don't know either," Caroline interrupted her, "but it's your mess and you really need to fix this, okay?"

"Whoa, don't blame me. I'm not the one who told Tyler to do this," Elena crossed her arms and glared at her friend.

"Yeah, but you're the reason this whole drama is happening in the first place." Elena scoffed and tried to walk around Caroline but she was held back. "Elena, you know you're my best friend. You're practically the sister I always wanted. But this is going a little too far and you really need to step in."

Elena let out a slow breath and nodded. "I'll try. I can't promise it'll actually fix anything... but I'll try."

Caroline nodded and let her go. "I'm sorry we didn't bring any food home, but you seemed to be pretty occupied anyway," she smirked, effectively changing the mood from somber to joking.

Elena chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. "Next time, we'll just have to bring food with us when we come."

Caroline agreed and they bid each other adieu. She was finally able to get her food and in a slightly better mood than before. She hoped that Elena would talk some sense into Matt, and Matt would do the same to Tyler. Stefan already had so much on his plate, she didn't want him to worry about anything else.

She ate quickly and decided to bring and apple up for Stefan in case he woke up starving. He was still sleeping when she returned. He looked so carefree as he slept. She couldn't stop from smiling as she snuggled up to him again. His arms tightened around her once she was settled, making her think he had woken, but he let out a loud snore that sent her into a fit of giggles. Once she calmed down, she closed her eyes with a smile on her face, hoping things would turn out the way she wanted for once.


	7. The Call

Stefan woke up with a smile on his face and his arms wrapped around his favorite girl. He gave her a light squeeze but she just sighed and snuggled in closer to him. Her breathing evened out again and Stefan enjoyed the moment. Which of course was ruined when someone started banging loudly on the front door. Caroline jolted, her wide eyes blindly connecting with his. She relaxed once she realized where she was and tucked her head back on his shoulder.

"Who's that?" she mumbled, voice thick from sleep.

"I don't know. I'm up here with you, aren't I?" he teased her, grinning when she made a sour face.

The person banged on the door again impatiently causing Caroline to groan. "Can you go and make them shut up?"

Stefan chuckled and pressed a kiss to her forehead before getting out of bed. He only slipped on some sweatpants, sure it was some kids selling lemonade or something else stupid. He made his way downstairs leisurely, sort of hoping his brother would beat him to the door but he knew that wouldn't happen. Damon would sleep until dinner time if he could.

When Stefan opened the door, his heart froze. Two cops with sunglasses, blue uniforms and badges proudly displayed on their chests were standing on his porch. One of them lowered his sunglasses and examined him. "Are you Damon Salvatore?"

What's he gotten himself into now? "No," Stefan said slowly, hiding his body behind the door so only his head stuck out. "Why, did he do something wrong?"

"We're just running a little investigation. We got a tip that he's been hanging out with a minor. Know anything about that?"

Stefan bit his lip and looked down. "No, I don't."

The cops looked at each other before the first one glared at him. "Are you sure that's your answer, son?"

"Yeah, so unless you have a warrant, I don't think you have any business being here," he retorted, holding his chin high and squaring his shoulders.

"Maybe we'll come back with one." Before turning to leave empty handed, the second cop nodded at Stefan. "What's with those bruises?"

Stefan blanched. He looked down and saw his torso was completely exposed to them since he stepped out from in front of the door. "My girlfriend likes it rough," he lied through his teeth. "If you had one, you'd know what I'm talking about."

They raised their eyebrows before shaking their heads and leaving. "Kids these days," Stefan heard one of them mutter. "They got no respect."

Stefan let out a sigh of relief as they got into their car and drove away, only to jump when he noticed Caroline's presence on the stairs.

"Why did you say that?" she questioned him faintly.

"Say what?"

"That your bruises were from me."

Stefan tried desperately to find an excuse but his heart was beating so loud in his ears, he couldn't think. "Did I?" he instead said stupidly.

Caroline slowly walked down the rest of the stairs and wrapped her arms around his waist. Confused, he hugged her back. "You don't have to protect Tyler," she mumbled against his chest.

What?

"I don't know why you won't tell anyone that he's the one who gave you the bruises," she said while looking up into his eyes.

Oh. Right. Stefan shrugged and stared at nothing in particular. "I just don't want to get all up in the drama, you know? First, there's this whole Damon and Elena thing, if I told the cops about Tyler, then Tyler might try to find some retribution or something."

Caroline nodded but gazed at him thoughtfully. "Do you really like that? S&M or whatever?" she giggled as a small smirk took residence on her lips.

He stiffened and clenched his jaw. "No." He slipped out of her arms and put some space between them.

"What's wrong?" she frowned.

Stefan was saved from having to answer when his brother came strutting down the steps, Elena trailing behind.

"Who was that?" Damon asked, his smirk seemingly carved into his face.

"Some cops were here. Someone," Stefan flicked his eyes over to Elena for a second, "apparently tipped them off that she was here."

"Son of a bitch," he groaned. "Can't Busboy find something else to cry about?"

"What did you tell them?" Elena asked seriously, mildly looking over his bruises in curiosity.

Stefan shrugged and shook his head. "I just said I don't know anything about you guys, but that probably pissed them off so you might want to watch out."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Damon nodded him off while wrapping an arm around Elena. "Just keep playing dumb to them; it really shouldn't be too hard for you."

"Okay, why don't you insult the guy that's standing between you and jail?" Stefan crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"I know you got my back, baby bro. Just don't fuck up, k?" He winked at his little brother and started leading Elena towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna drop her off at home. The less time she's here, the less evidence they'll be able to find."

Stefan looked at them in concern but didn't stop them from leaving.

"Is it really worth it for them to keep seeing each other?" Caroline asked from his side.

His eyes zipped to hers and he shrugged. "I don't know. I'm trying not to worry about it. It's their lives, you know."

"But it's messing up your life too, right?" she said, stepping closer to her.

"It's fine, I told you I'll take care of it."

Caroline wrapped her arms around him again, which he reciprocated. "I really don't want you to get hurt, especially over your brother's drama."

"Caroline," he said softly. "It's okay."

She pouted at him, causing him to smile. "I worry about you, that's all."

He nodded and leaned down to lightly kiss her lips. Her arms wound around his neck as she held him against her, not that he was one to complain. He anchored a hand on her back and began shuffling them toward the couch. They tumbled down together, separating their lips to chuckle a bit before getting back into it. Stefan massaged her tongue with his own as his hand snuck it's way under her shirt.

It hadn't even been twelve hours since they had last did this, but every touch felt like the first time. He drew her shirt over her head and connected his lips to her neck. He must've hit a sweet spot because a moan came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop it and a heat was quickly building in her core. Stefan smirked, sucking even harder on her skin, making her squirm beneath him. He bit her a little sharply before soothing the mark with his tongue. He did this a few times before pulling back and admiring his work. He went to get started on the other side of her neck but she pushed him back.

"It's going to be hard enough to cover that one," she breathed out lightly.

He nodded in understanding and instead connected their lips together again. Impatiently, she flipped them over so she was straddling him. His erection was rubbing against her in just the right way when she grinded against him. He locked his hands on her hips to aid in her movements, both of them moaning at the feeling.

They were startled by the sound of a phone ringing. It was Stefan's phone that he had left on the table down there. He glanced at it for a second before shaking his head. "I'll get it later," he murmured before sitting up and capturing her lips. She circled her hips against his again, sighing at the pleasure it was bringing her. With Stefan guiding her hips, it wasn't long before she was gasping and shuddering above him.

When she came down from her high, Caroline leaned down to kiss him. He was still hard, pressing up between her legs so she scooted down, bringing his sweatpants with her. She grinned devilishly as she took his aching cock in her hand, making him groan. She pumped him slowly, sliding her thumb over the head to spread around the leaking precum. He couldn't help the way his hips automatically thrust into her hand, urging her to go faster. He let out a soft moan when she took him into her mouth. His hands threaded through her hair but he let her move at her own pace.

He was so hard at this point, he knew it wouldn't take much more to get him off. She was taking him in deep and even moaning when he hit the back of her throat. He tightened his grip on her hair when she lightly fondled his balls in her fingers. The phone started ringing again, almost ruining the mood but Stefan was determined to come.

"Caroline, please," he panted, his hand guiding her head at a slightly faster pace. Sensing his urgency, she sucked on the tip while firmly stroking the rest of him. His entire body tensed as he shot his load into her mouth which she quickly swallowed.

He laid back on the couch with his hands over his face while Caroline sat up and giggled. "Aren't you going to get your phone?" she questioned him as she pulled his sweatpants back up. He looked at his phone on the table next to them before picking it up.

**2 missed calls from Damon**

Furrowing his eyebrows, Stefan sat up and called his brother back. He answered on the second ring.

"Where the hell have you been?" Damon shot at him.

"I was busy. What's up?"

"What's up is I've been arrested because of that fucktard, Matt," Damon spat out.

Stefan's eyes locked with Caroline's as she watched his face twist into worry. "Wait, what do you mean you've been arrested?"

"I can't tell you right now. I need you to come pick me up, okay? There's some money in my top drawer, you're going to have to post bail."

The phone hung up before Stefan could say anything else. "What is it?" Caroline asked him anxiously.

Stefan stood up from the couch, in a slight daze. "Damon's been arrested. He needs me to post bail."

"What?" Caroline followed him to his room. "Should I call my mom? Maybe she can help clear this up."

Stefan nodded and got dressed and got the money as Caroline begged her mom to help.

"Please, mom? You know he doesn't deserve this. Elena's happy, so what does it matter? Plus what would Stefan do if his brother went to prison?" There was a long pause where Stefan was afraid that Sheriff Forbes wouldn't help, but Caroline smiled after a second. "Thanks! We're headed to the station right now."

"Ready?" They got into Caroline's car and she quickly took them to Mystic Falls Police Station. Damon was sitting in the only cell there, looking pissed as hell.

"It's about time," he said sourly.

Stefan ignored him, instead heading to the deputy behind the desk. "I have the bail money, can you let him go?" The deputy counted the money before nodding and getting up to let Damon out. "Can I talk to him privately?" Stefan asked the deputy, getting another nod in response. Stefan grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him into an empty interrogation room. "Can you tell me what the hell happened now?"

Damon scowled and yanked his arm out of Stefan's hold. "The cops were waiting outside of Elena's house and found it very suspicious that I was dropping her off."

"Did you say anything to them?"

"I tried to say that she was at my house for you since you're one of her friends and I was just dropping her off but they didn't believe me so they brought me in. I refused to talk anymore so they stuck me in a cell and told me to call someone if I wanted to get out before tomorrow."

Stefan sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Damon, I specifically didn't want to get pulled into any stupid drama and now this shit comes up."

"It's not my fault!" Damon yelled, his face turning red. "You know what, I'm going to have to change Busboy's nickname because he's never working for me again."

"You think that's going to solve this? Damon, your entire relationship is illegal. If the police get another whiff of this-"

"They won't," Damon assured him.

"You seemed pretty sure this morning and look how that ended up," Stefan said skeptically.

Damon clapped his hands on both of Stefan's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Stef, listen, I'm finally happy, okay? I'm going to take this and to hell with anyone who thinks this is wrong."

Stefan shrugged out of his brother's hands. "The  _law_  thinks it's wrong and you've got to be pretty stupid to mess around with that."

"I'm the adult here, so I'm going to do whatever the fuck I want, okay?" Damon's glare was so fierce, Stefan wanted to look away.

"I don't want to be dragged into this anymore, Damon! I don't want to have to worry about if you've been arrested again. I just got you back in my life; I can't lose you again," he finished quietly.

Damon's glare softened before he sighed. "I know, I get that. We spent far too long away from each other, but I'm not just going to put a pause on my happiness because of what you want."

"Damon, I don't want you to go to prison. How is that a bad thing?"

"I  _can't_  stay away from her, okay?" His older brother looked so vulnerable, Stefan actually tried considering it from his point of view. What if people told him he couldn't be with Caroline, one of the only people he trusted at the moment?

"Please just be more careful," Stefan finally said, defeated.

Damon grimaced and nodded before pulling his brother into a hug. "What were you doing, anyway?" he asked as he pulled away and they started walking toward the door.

"Doing when?"

"When I called you the first two times." Stefan couldn't help the blush that was burning up his face. He desperately hoped Damon didn't notice, but of course, his eyes immediately shot to Caroline, who was speaking to her mother. "Ohh," he hummed. "Next time, you might not want to give her a hickey; it makes it kind of obvious."

Stefan rolled his eyes when Damon nudged him with a smirk. "Do you have your car?"

"No, it's still at Elena's. She's probably worried sick right now," he groaned.

"Why don't I get Caroline to drop us off there. You can talk to her for a bit then you can drive us home."

"We really need to get you a car. What happened to your old one? That gay little red granny mobile?"

Stefan frowned as he remembered the fate of his beloved car. "Dad crashed it, you know... when it happened," he murmured.

Damon's face grew serious and he nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry, you know," he said softly. "I don't think I ever realized how traumatic that must've been for you, even if he was a major douche. For him to be there one second and gone the next."

Stefan closed his eyes and held his breath for a moment. "I don't want to talk about it right now," he whispered.

Damon nodded again and clapped his hand on his back. "You should really talk about it some day," he said seriously. Stefan looked down but nodded. "I'll ask Blondie if she can take us home now. I'm already sick of this place and I've only been here for like an hour."

When Damon approached Caroline, Stefan could see her face turn sour. But her eyes flickered to Stefan after they had talked for a few seconds and she smiled. The only thing that made this entire ordeal worth it was to see her smile at the end of it.


	8. The Birthday

"Brother, tell me what you're up to so I can get back to more important things," Damon sighed as he slumped into a chair at the Grill.

Stefan had gathered all of his friends - well, more like Caroline's friends and his brother - for a secret meeting. Elena and Bonnie were sitting at the table with Jeremy awkwardly tagging along, mostly there because Elena would give him a ride and he could hang out with Bonnie afterwards. Matt was nowhere to be found, having been fired from his job immediately after Damon got out of jail and shunned from the group when school had started back up on that Monday. It seemed to do nothing but fuel his anger, though, and sometimes Stefan was genuinely scared at football practice when he didn't have anyone to buffer him from Matt and Tyler. But so far, they hadn't retaliated anymore. Other than some nasty glares, both sides had effectively ignored each other, which was fine by Stefan.

"This Friday," Stefan started. "It's Caroline's birthday."

"And why do I have to be here for Blondie's party planning committee?" Damon asked, rolling his eyes.

"Because you are going to rent out a section of the Grill for us to have a party, pro bono."

Damon laughed at this, clutching his sides in amusement. He looked around suspiciously when no one else joined in. "Wait, you're actually serious?"

"Come on, you're my brother. Can't you do this for me?"

"I may be your brother, but I'm not an idiot. Friday is prime money making time. Why should I close out a section and not make any money?"

"I'll work off the payment," Stefan proposed. "You've been short staff ever since you fired Matt, you wouldn't even have to pay me for it." Elena stiffened when she heard her ex-boyfriend's name while Jeremy shifted his gaze uncomfortably to the floor.

Damon rubbed his chin. "Okay," he finally relented. "How about you take over bar duty Thursday through Sunday. You do know how to make drinks, right?"

Stefan shrugged. "How hard can it be?" Damon narrowed his eyes at him, about to take back his offer before Stefan spoke again. "Just train me for a few days and it'll be fine, I promise."

Damon nodded and looked off in another direction with a sour look on his face.

"So I called the rest of you here because I wanted help planning this party. You guys have known her the longest so you probably know what she likes."

"You're going to need loads of glitter and balloons," Elena commented while Bonnie nodded behind her.

"Yes, and the biggest cake you can find, preferably red velvet."

Stefan looked at Jeremy for his input, but he just shrugged. "I don't know her that well, man."

"Anything else?" he asked the two girls who were actually helpful.

"She pretty much loves all the Grill's food, she usually gets salad but she'll be down for anything if it's a party," Elena added.

"Who else do you plan on inviting?" Bonnie questioned him.

"I guess the rest of the cheer squad, some other people in our grade I know she talks to. Who else do you think should come?"

"She loves big parties, just don't invite Ben Greenberg," she advised him.

"Don't invite Matt or Tyler, either," Elena grumbled as she leaned into Damon's arms.

"I would never," Stefan shook his head. "Okay, so I got that I need balloons, glitter, red velvet, lots of food, and a ton of people excluding douchebags. Anything else?"

"She likes to feel special, so make sure everyone knows this is for her specifically," Elena told him.

He nodded; it made sense. From what he knew of her, she constantly needed reassurance that she was important and needed, which was definitely depressing, but he somewhat knew where she was coming from. While his dad definitely wasn't as hard on him as he was on Damon, Stefan still grew up feeling inadequate. His reclusive nature allowed him to keep it internalized rather than seek approval like Caroline did.

"How will everyone find out about this? Should I make a Facebook event or something?"

Elena, Bonnie, and Jeremy all chuckled. "It's a small town. Tell one person and the whole school will now. Trust me," Jeremy said.

Stefan looked at Damon for confirmation but he just shrugged. "Is that it? Are we done here?" his brother asked impatiently.

"You don't have to be here anymore. I just needed to secure the location."

"We'll start your training Saturday morning. I can't wait to get my weekends back," Damon winked at Elena before disappearing behind the bar again. No one had been working during their conversation but it was a Monday afternoon so the demand for alcohol wasn't high.

"Bonnie and I are going to freshen up," Elena told the remaining boys at the table.

"We are?" Bonnie asked.

Elena rolled her eyes and practically dragged her to the bathroom. That left Jeremy and Stefan alone. Stefan felt slightly uncomfortable; he didn't know the other boy that well and he was always wary around people like that.

"Hey, Stefan, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jeremy suddenly spoke up.

"Yeah, sure. What about?"

"You know Bonnie and I have been seeing each other for a bit," Jeremy said, blushing. Stefan smirked; whereas Damon and Elena's relationship had been mostly physical, Jeremy and Bonnie had been taking small steps since the 20's dance. "I'm still friends with Matt, though," Jeremy confessed.

"Why?" Stefan spat out without thinking. Just thinking about Matt left a bad taste in his mouth.

"I've known him as long as I've been alive. He's always been good to me, like the brother I've always wanted. Frankly, I'm probably the only person who can look at this situation objectively since Elena is my sister and Matt's my best friend."

Stefan raised his eyebrow, surprised someone other than Tyler would defend Matt. "What exactly is the problem, then?"

"You guys keep bashing Matt and honestly, it makes me a little mad," he admitted. "But I can't say anything because Elena pretty much hates Matt's guts and Bonnie will do anything Elena says."

"So you don't know how to keep your sister and girlfriend happy without betraying your friend?" Stefan tried to clarify.

"Exactly. I still hang out with him sometimes and he's just so upset right now. It's not really his fault, you know?"

"No, I don't know," Stefan furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you saying he accidentally called the cops on my brother and almost got him charged as a pedophile?"

"No, I'm not saying that but it's true," Jeremy muttered. "I'm just saying that Matt's been in love with Elena like forever and she threw him aside like he was trash then jumped in bed with your brother."

"That still doesn't excuse his behavior," Stefan leaned back in his chair and pursed his lips.

"I'm not saying it does, but you guys keep acting like Elena's done nothing wrong when she's the one who started this all."

"Listen, I really don't want to talk about this anymore," Stefan sighed. "I feel like that's all my life is about now and I don't care enough to devote any more time to it."

"Sorry. I just don't know if I should keep quiet like I've been doing or speak up to Bonnie."

"That might cause more trouble than it's worth if you talk to Bonnie," Stefan responded honestly. "If you're right that she mainly follows what Elena says, why don't you talk to her? Since she's your sister, she can't exactly break up with you if it goes the wrong way," he chuckled.

"I just really don't want to lose Bonnie, you know? I've liked her for years and she's finally paying me some attention. Have you ever had something like this?" Jeremy asked.

"Honestly, no," Stefan replied. "I mean, I've only had one other girlfriend and she's the one who pursued me."

"Oh." The girls were making their way back to the table so Jeremy decided it was time for the conversation to end. "Well, thanks for the advice, I guess."

"I'm going to head out," Elena announced when she got close enough. "Bonnie, can you drop Jeremy off when you're done with whatever it is you're doing?"

"Of course," Bonnie nodded and hugged her friend before she left.

"I guess that's my cue to go," Stefan said before standing up.

"You can hang with us for a little if you want," Bonnie suggested but the look on Jeremy's face told him he would not be welcome.

"Nah, I don't really want to be a third wheel. Thanks, though. Caroline's probably wondering where I am by now, anyway." She had invited him over when she was done with her Mystic Falls Beautification Committee meeting to finish up a chemistry project. She said it wouldn't take long which is why Stefan called this impromptu party planning meeting in the meantime.

Stefan went outside, smiling when he saw his new car. After a month of having to drive his brother around, Damon had had enough and bought Stefan his own car. It wasn't much, just something Damon picked up one day without any input from the future owner, but it was enough. Nothing would ever replace his Porsche his dad had passed down to him the year before, but there wasn't anything Stefan could do about it. At least it was the same red color as his old one.

When he got to Caroline's house, he couldn't help but feel happy. She had no idea what he was planning for her and he hoped she would like it. Who was he kidding? Of course she would like it. As long as everything went to plan, it would turn out great.

His knuckle had just touched the door when it flung over. He was starting to think she had some sixth sense letting her know when he was on her porch.

"Where have you been?" Caroline huffed, her hands on her hips. "I've tried calling Bonnie, Elena, even Jeremy, but none of them have been answering."

Stefan tried to contain his smirk. If she only knew what they were up to, she wouldn't be mad right now. "I think Bonnie and Jeremy are on a date. As for Elena," he just shrugged as an answer. "But I'm here now. Want to start on the project?" As they settled down at her kitchen table, he noticed she still seemed a little agitated. "You're not really mad at me, are you?"

She sighed and slumped her shoulders. "I just find it a little sketchy that everyone has an alibi except for you and Elena."

Stefan's eyebrows shot up his forehead. "What? Are you serious?" he chuckled, unintentionally making her more angry.

"Don't laugh at me," she snapped, fuming as she roughly turned the pages in her chemistry book.

"I'm sorry," he said, sobering up. "Listen, why don't I take you out for dinner on Friday? It'll be my treat."

Caroline pursed her lips and looked like she was going to say something for a moment before deciding against it. "Is that supposed to pacify me? A dinner?"

"Maybe." When she rolled her eyes, he tried again. "You know I only have eyes for you. I don't know what Elena was doing, but I was actually at the Grill setting this dinner up." She raised an eyebrow at him, obviously not believing him. "You can ask Damon. He's even going to make me work on weekends so we'll have to budget our time accordingly."

"What do you mean you're going to work weekends? Damon's punishing you for taking me to dinner?" She was so cute when she was confused.

"It's going to be... a little more than dinner. I only want the best for my girl." Caroline smiled at that, making him feel successful. "Now back to this project."

Friday was coming faster than Stefan had expected. It was getting increasingly harder to keep Caroline out of the loop about her party, especially considering how everyone in the school seemed to have found out about it. He hoped the Grill had insurance and Damon wouldn't kill him afterwards.

Football practice was normal for most of the week. The other guys on the team were warming up to him, especially since their first game where he lead them to victory by making five touchdowns. Homecoming was coming up so Coach Tanner had them running additional plays, hoping they would win the homecoming game for the first time in twenty years.

During Friday's practice, Stefan was so eager for it to be over so he could get over to the Grill to set up that he missed an easy catch.

"Salvatore!" Tanner barked while rubbing his temple. "Four laps, let's see if you can pay attention for that long."

Stefan started jogging around the track that surrounded the field when he felt someone next to him. He tensed up when he saw it was Tyler.

"What are you doing here?" he muttered as they rounded a turn.

"Getting some cardio. Don't worry, I got in trouble earlier for an 'overly aggressive' tackle," he chuckled. "Not that you would know. You've been zoned out this entire practice. Does it have to do with that little girlfriend of yours?"

Stefan's gaze snapped to him. "You're not coming to this party," he told him.

"The whole school's going to it. Would you even know if I showed up?"

"Yes," he said flatly. "You're not coming."

"What would you do if I did show up, huh? Get your scary big brother to kick me out?"

Stefan had half the mind to smack the smirk off of Tyler's face. "No. I'd deal with you personally."

"Oh, look who's making the threats now," Tyler snorted. "Too bad they don't mean shit to me."

"What about your threats? You haven't done a single thing against me," Stefan reminded him.

"All in due time," Tyler said cryptically. He suddenly stopped running, making Stefan look back at him in time to catch his shit-eating grin. Tyler gave him a fake salute before joining the team for practice again.

It wasn't too hard to forget about Tyler because Caroline's party was coming closer and closer. Stefan managed to finish the rest of practice without dropping a single ball, which smoothed out a few frown lines on Tanner's forehead. He was showered and changed before most of the team was even back in the locker room and he peeled out of the parking lot in record time. Damon had been kind enough to keep all of the party supplies in the break room of the Grill so Stefan wouldn't have to stop home first.

"There you are. Elena's been texting me about not knowing how much longer she could keep Blondie occupied," Damon greeted him from his stool at the bar.

"What are you doing? Get up. We have to decorate," Stefan grumbled as he went to the break room to find all the decorations still there.

"No, you have to decorate. I just agreed to give you the venue, food and booze. The labor's all on you."

Stefan wanted to argue but Damon was right. A deal was a deal. And besides, he had no time to argue if Elena really was having trouble keeping Caroline away. "It's only 4, why is Caroline so eager to get here?"

"You shouldn't have told her there was going to be an event here in the first place," Damon tutted.

"Yeah, yeah, hindsight's a bitch. Did Elena spill the beans?"

"Not exactly. She's just not that good at creating a distraction. She gets all flustered." Damon was wearing a goofy grin, making Stefan not want to know what he was thinking about.

"Tell her to ask Caroline to explain something that one of her clubs is doing. That should occupy her for a while."

"Oh, good plan. But when my girlfriend gets bored to death, you have to pay for the funeral."

It took a little under an hour for Stefan to set up all the banners, balloons, and streamers, but he was satisfied by the time he was done.

"Looking good, baby bro," Damon commented, finishing up his bottle of bourbon. "Should I tell Elena to head over?"

Stefan gave their section a once over before nodding. "Yeah, and make sure Bonnie and Jeremy know too."

"You have a phone, can't you do that?"

"I'm sorry, my fingers are sore from actually working for the past hour. Just do it, Damon."

He rolled his eyes but texted Jeremy as well before wondering why he even had Little Gilbert's number in the first place.

People started arriving within minutes. Stefan didn't know most of them, but they all seemed at least vaguely familiar with Caroline, some even bringing presents. The food was a hit, almost as popular as the booze that was hidden in the back, least the sheriff dropped by.

By the time Caroline got there, the place was packed. She seemed confused at first since Stefan told her he had reserved a place for them. Her expression turned to surprise when she read the large banner above her head: Happy Birthday Caroline!

"Hey, nice of you to make it," Stefan smiled as he approached her.

"Oh my god!" she gasped with her hands around her mouth. "What happened to our dinner?"

"Did you really think I'd forget about your birthday?" he asked as he wrapped her in a hug.

"I don't know... I mean my mom didn't even mention anything about it. She's working all night." She didn't know if the tears in her eyes were from happiness or sadness, but she brushed them away regardless.

"Well, that just means you can spend more time here with me, right?"

Caroline smiled widely and hugged him tightly. "You're the best boyfriend ever."

"Wait until you see all your presents," he said against her hair.

She spent a while going through all the rounds, thanking everyone for coming, catching up with some people she hadn't talked to in months. By the time they got to the food, she was starving.

"How did you get Damon to agree to give all this food?" she asked while stuffing her face with wings.

Stefan chuckled and stole one of her fries. "Like I said, I'm going to be working here on weekends. You should visit me."

"Knowing us, we'd probably escape to the back room during your entire shift."

Stefan laughed and shook his head. "I can't get enough of you, you know?"

"The feeling is mutual," she grinned before continuing to scarf down the food.

It was nearing 11 and a lot of people were gone by the time she started opening presents. Only Stefan, Elena and Bonnie were really paying attention as she took out each gift one at a time, saving the best for last.

"Aww, guys, you shouldn't have!" Caroline exclaimed as she unwrapped a scrapbook chronicling the three girls' friendship throughout the years. "Oh my god, is this us in sixth grade? I told you to delete the picture!"

"But you look so cute in it," Stefan told her before kissing her cheek.

She blushed and put the book down, not wanting her boyfriend to see any more embarrassing pictures of her youth. "Where's your present? I'll open that next." Stefan reached behind him to hand her a small box. She shook it around and heard something banging on the inside. Definitely jewlery. However, she wasn't expecting to pull out a diamond encrusted heart locket. Her eyes shot up to Stefan's.

"It was my mother's," he explained as he opened the tiny clasp. Inside was a picture of her on one side and him on the other. "You can change out the pictures... but I hope you don't."

"Stefan," she whispered, her voice suddenly gone. "I can't take this from you."

"I want you to have it. I have a feeling you'll get more use out of it than I will. Here." He opened the necklace and held it up to her. She turned around and brushed her hair to the side, still in awe of the beautiful piece of jewelry. She touched the locket while he clasped it behind her neck.

"It's beautiful," she finally said, turning back around to face him. "Thank you so much."

"Caroline, I want you to have this because I need you to know how much you mean to me." Stefan took a shaky breath and looked down before meeting her eyes again. "I love you."

She could vaguely hear her two best friends awwing in the background as tears flooded her eyes. "I love you too," she choked out, making them both smile. Stefan pulled her in for a sweet kiss, their lips barely touching before he pulled back again. She wanted more, much more than would be appropriate in a public place. "You should stay over tonight," she said lowly to him.

"At your house? I don't know, my bed is more comfy," he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Yeah, well I'm older than you and I'm telling you that you have to come to my house."

"One day into being 17 and you're already rubbing it in," he laughed. "We'll be even soon, my birthday's in less than a month."

"In the meantime, you have to do everything I say," she grinned wickedly.

"I'm not sure that'll be as much of a punishment as you seem to think it is," he smiled back before kissing her again. When he pulled away, a figure in the background caught his eye. It was Tyler, glaring them down. Stefan resisted the urge to immediately do something because Caroline hadn't noticed him yet and he didn't want to cause a scene. "Are you done opening your presents?" he asked while keeping his eyes locked with Tyler's from across the room. Tyler was glaring at him and cracking his knuckles, as if that would actually scare him.

"Yeah. It's getting late, isn't it?" Caroline was already gathering her presents in a large basket on the table. "Isn't the Grill closing soon?"

"We should be getting out of here," he answered instead, his eyes darting to hers. She looked so perfect, so happy, he didn't want anything to jeopardize that. "Here, I'll get that. You start saying goodbyes."

He kissed Caroline on the cheek before taking the basket and heading to his car. Tyler noticed him coming and led him outside.

"I told you not to come," Stefan said nonchalantly as he kept walking toward his car.

"Your words mean nothing to me," Tyler smirked and shook his head. "I see the blonde one makes you happy. It'd be a shame if something were to... happen to her."

Stefan paused and narrowed his eyes at him. "You wouldn't dare."

"You keep saying I don't make good on my threats, now you have a variety of them to choose from. If I were you, I'd keep my eyes open." Tyler reached up and patted Stefan on the face, making him scowl. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Stefan didn't know when or how, but he knew Tyler would be going down one day.


	9. The Fight

"Nominations are out!"

Stefan looked up with his eyebrows raised as Caroline laid a sheet of paper on the table in front of him. "Nominations?"

"Homecoming King and Queen! And look who's at the top," she grinned.

In the Queen column, Caroline's name was printed first. Elena was right below her along with other girls Stefan didn't know. The King column consisted of Matt, the Greenberg guy on his team, his own name, and some other random guys.

"I didn't even know we were nominated," Stefan admitted sheepishly.

"Of course we were nominated, dum-dum. I put us on the list myself!"

"And you think we'll win?" Stefan was the new kid who barely knew anyone except his girlfriend and her friends. Who would vote for him?

" _Everyone_  has noticed you, Stefan. You're fresh and new. Instead of nominating Matt to the court for the third time in a row, I think people are ready for change. Doesn't hurt that you're leading our team to victory and you're super hot."

Stefan flushed at the compliment and debated checking his and Caroline's name off on his ballot. Would it be considered cheating to vote for yourself? Well, he wasn't Caroline so regardless, he checked off her name and submitted it into the box in front of their class.

"What's that about?" Elena asked, coming in a few minutes later than everyone else. Her face had a flush to it and she looked happy for once.

"Just homecoming court nominations. You know. For king and queen," Caroline shrugged, but there was an edge to her voice that caught Stefan's attention.

"Caroline and I are going to win," he told Elena with raised eyebrows, making sure she caught his hint.

"Oh, well good luck you guys," Elena wished them well earnestly, checking both of their names off before turning her ballot into the front

Caroline looked at Stefan during her absence, almost as if she couldn't comprehend that Elena was wishing her luck.

"I don't think Elena cares about this at all," Stefan whispered to her.

"That didn't stop her from winning last year," Caroline grumbled, pulling out her notebooks and making herself busy with organizing them when Elena came back.

Sensing the tension, Elena spoke up again as she took her seat. "I'm sure you guys will win, I mean no one else is competition. I'll tell Mrs. Whitmore that I don't want to be in it anymore and Matt... well no one really likes him anymore anyways." Caroline snorted at this and was in a remarkably better mood for the rest of the day.

In fact, she was in such a good mood that she even  _asked_  for Stefan's help before making him help out make the homecoming float.

"It's supposed to be the football field with us cheerleaders on it, you know? It's a small field but big us... we're bigger than life!"

Stefan still didn't get it, not after the 100th time she explained it, but he nodded along to refrain from feeling her wrath.

Instead of asking questions, he just did what he was told. He helped add little grass pieces to the float, he painted wooden boards to be used as the walls to the float, he even went to the store and bought more glitter when they ran out. He didn't know how it was possible that they needed more than 6 bags of glitter but Caroline was gifted in knowing how to put it everywhere.

It took a lot of hard work and some tears (mostly on Caroline's part when something went wrong), but they finally finished the float two hours before the homecoming game was set to start. Caroline stood back to admire their hard work before squealing and jumping into Stefan's arms. He stumbled from the unexpected move but hugged her tightly.

"Thank you so so  _so_  much! We're totally going to win the float contest!" She kissed his cheek before getting down on her feet. "I guess you should go get ready with the team now."

"I'll be looking out for you during the game," he smiled, leaning down to give her a small kiss.

"Don't lose this game just because you can't resist my moves," she winked at him. They smiled at each other for another second before splitting to go to their respective teams.

Stefan could barely look at Tyler as he walked into the locker room. The other boy was staring him down, a smirk spread wide across his face. Stefan tried his best to ignore it and get into his uniform, but it was hard. He had an urge to smash Tyler's face into the lockers, but he knew that wouldn't go down well with Coach Tanner. The team stood through Coach's pep talk, more pumped up than they were in years past because of their talented new wide receiver. Everyone clapped and whooped to each other, but Stefan still felt two pairs of eyes glaring at him from across the room, one Tyler's and the other presumably Matt's. He wasn't going to let that bother him. Right now, all that mattered was winning the game, becoming the Homecoming King to match Caroline's Queen, and going to the dance.

The game started out smoothly enough. Beacon Hills was a shitty team with shitty defense, so by the first quarter, the Timberwolves were up 21-nothing. Stefan glanced to the sidelines to see Caroline cheering him on excitedly. In the second quarter, the other team picked up their offense, scoring a touchdown but missing the extra point, bringing the score to 21-6.

During the halftime break, Coach Tanner brought the team together. "Alright, we pretty much have this in the bag. They're noticing that we're using Salvatore more, so I want you to sit back and let Lockwood run it a few times." Stefan raised his eyebrows but agreed, not wanting a fight. "We'll bring Salvatore back in the fourth quarter and Donovan, I want you to pass to him every time you get the ball."

Matt scowled at him but didn't object. They headed back onto the field for the next play. Since Stefan was benched for the quarter, he watched Caroline cheer instead. She was confused when she didn't see his number 17 jersey on the field and her eyes widened when she saw him on the bench. He smiled and shook his head, reassuring her that he wasn't hurt or anything. The game started and he was somewhat jealous that he wasn't on the field, but watching Caroline cheer was almost better. She looked so proud to be leading the routines that her smile was contagious. He watched in amazement as she went up in a flip before Bonnie and Elena caught her. The quarter went by a lot sooner than he expected and by the time horn sounded, the score was now 28-26.

"Salvatore, get out here," Coach Tanner grumbled, obviously pissed that the other team was catching up to them. Stefan put on his helmet and jogged over to where the rest of the team was huddled. "Alright, guys, now don't fuck this up. Donovan, you need to pass to Salvatore every time. Salvatore, you run your ass off, alright?" The team gave their cheer and got into position on the field.

Stefan took his place on the far end of the field, locking eyes with the guy across from him. He looked scared. Stefan grinned; this will be a piece of cake. The ball was in play and Stefan raced forward, startling the other guy. Stefan side stepped around him before turning around, waiting for the ball to come his way.

And he waited. And waited.

The ref blew the whistle when Matt got sacked when he had tried to run instead of passing it. Stefan rolled his eyes. Of course Matt wouldn't play by the rules if it involved having to play with Stefan. They didn't even get a first down. If Matt kept this up, they'd have to turn over the ball and it could cost them the game. Stefan knew Coach was fuming.

When they got back in their positions for the second down, Stefan purposefully glared at Matt. Matt looked down at first but nodded. Stefan hoped that meant they'd put their differences aside for the game.

The next play started and Stefan ran forward again. To his satisfaction, the football was headed right his way. He easily caught it and tore down the field, scoring another touchdown for the team.

Once they got going, there was no stopping them. Matt seemed to always know where Stefan was on the field, and each ball Matt threw landed perfectly in Stefan's hands. The other team admitted defeat and just stood by to watch Stefan run each ball down to the goal. Mystic Falls ended up winning 42-26, something that hadn't happened in years.

Stefan was ecstatic as the team went into the locker room. He showered quickly before changing into a suit for the dance. He was just about to leave for the gym where it would be held when Matt pulled him aside.

"Hey, man. Good game," Matt said to him while shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You too. Thanks for passing the ball to me," Stefan told him, unsure of what this meant. Was he trying to make amends?

"Thanks for catching them every time." Was Stefan dreaming or did Matt actually give him a little smile? It was gone before he could make sure. "Listen, I'd watch out at the dance."

Stefan cocked his head to the side. "Are you threatening me?"

"No," Matt vehemently shook his head. "I'm done with this fighting. You and I are good out there... and I was hoping we could start over?"

Stefan shrugged before nodding. "Yeah, whatever. I never had anything against you in the first place. What are you talking about then?"

"Tyler's planning something," Matt warned him.

Stefan actually snorted. "He's been threatening me for weeks now but nothing's happened-"

"He's serious now, though. He's got it all planned out. Just don't find yourself alone, alright? Something bad might happen."

Stefan stared at him for a few seconds, taking in the seriousness in his eyes, before nodding. "Alright. Thanks for the warning."

Matt nodded back and they went their separate ways. Caroline, of course, was already dressed and waiting for him at the entrance of the gym.

"I'm going to guess you're excited," Stefan guessed with a smile while Caroline was practically vibrating with delight.

"I have it on good authority that there's a very huge chance we'll win Homecoming King and Queen," she squealed as she gave him a hug.

He couldn't help but to laugh. "Well, queens first, then," he gestured for her to go through the door that he opened.

She gave him a little curtsy before pulling him with her through the door. They met up with Bonnie, Jeremy and Elena inside. Damon had decided since his last run in with the police, it would be in his best interest to stay far away from public events with Elena.

"You were amazing out there!" Bonnie congratulated him with a smile.

"Our team definitely needed you," Elena agreed.

Everyone looked at Jeremy and he shrugged. "I was mainly there to watch the cheerleaders," Jeremy confessed, making Bonnie elbow him in the stomach. "Only for my favorite one, of course," he covered smoothly and kissed her cheek.

"I can't take all the credit," Stefan admitted as he sat down next to Caroline. "Matt threw most of the passes right to me." Everyone raised their eyebrows and stared at him. "He came to me after the game and apologized... kind of. He doesn't want to fight anymore."

"With you or with me?" Elena asked quietly.

Stefan pursed his lips. "Probably just with me. You should go talk to him and sort it out."

Elena looked like she wanted to object for a second before she gave up and nodded her head.

The group of friends spent most of the time hanging out and munching on the food offered. Soon enough, it was time for the Homecoming King and Queen to be announced. Caroline clutched Stefan's hand tightly as they waited in anticipation for their principal, Mrs. Whitmore, to announce the winners.

"We'll do ladies first," Mrs. Whitmore said as she unfolded a paper. "This year's Homecoming Queen is... Caroline Forbes!"

She nearly squealed as she jumped up from her seat, making Stefan laugh. She gave him a peck on the cheek before heading to the stage to collect her crown. Bonnie, Elena and Jeremy clapped happily from beside him.

"And the Homecoming King is... Stefan Salvatore!"

Stefan smiled widely as he got up and walked to the stage to join his girlfriend. She hugged him tightly before letting Mrs. Whitmore put the crown on his head.

"Now it's time for our King and Queen to dance. Clear the floor, everyone."

Stefan offered her his hand, which she gladly took. He led her out to the dance floor and gathered her in an embrace. They slowly rocked from side to side as a soft song played through the speakers. This moment was everything Stefan wished for. His girl was happy, he was holding her in his arms, and all was right in the world. Even Matt had called a truce. For once, everything was going his way.

The couple was drawn back to reality when the song ended and everyone started clapping. The floor started filling up with other couples so they headed back to their table with smiles glued to their faces.

"Let me see the crown!" Bonnie exclaimed as soon as soon as they were within earshot. Caroline giggled and took hers off her head for Bonnie to fawn over. Elena joined in and they both gave Caroline a hug.

"Stefan, can you take the crowns to your car?" Caroline asked him. "I don't want to lose mine but I also don't want it to ruin my hair all night."

"Sure," he chuckled, taking hers and taking his off his head. "I'll be right back."

It was starting to get cold this time of year and Stefan was wondering if Caroline brought a sweater or something when a noise stopped him just before he got to his car. Someone was slow clapping behind him. Stefan turned around and instantly frowned.

"Congrats on the win," Tyler said sarcastically. "You surely deserve it."

"What do you want, Tyler?" Stefan sighed, not feeling up to whatever banter Tyler obviously wanted to have.

"You need to be taught a lesson," Tyler practically growled as he moved in on him.

Confused, Stefan took a few steps back to create some distance. "Why do you hate me so much? I've never done anything to you!"

Tyler laughed humorlessly before cracking his knuckles. "You came into my school, took over my team, and took my friends. I can't let you get away with that." He pushed Stefan back against his car, making him drop the crowns.

"Stop, I don't want to fight with you," Stefan warned, but a little bit of fear started building up in him.

"You should've thought about that before you intruded in my life." Tyler pushed him again a little rougher and glared into his face.

"That doesn't even fucking make sense. Back up," Stefan spat out, starting to get mad.

"What are you gonna do? Pout me to death?" Tyler taunted him.

Before Stefan could come up with a retort, Tyler suddenly threw his fist out and it connected with Stefan's jaw. It was strong enough send Stefan tumbling to the ground. He lay there for a second, completely shocked that it had turned physical before Tyler started kicking him. His foot landed heavily on Stefan's stomach, leaving Stefan breathless. Before Tyler could kick him again, Stefan grabbed his foot, pulling it out from underneath him. With Tyler on the ground as well, Stefan got on top of him started blindly punching whatever he could reach. He was filled with so much rage, he didn't notice Tyler reaching into his pocket until he felt a pain on his hand. He was bleeding from a cut caused by Tyler's pocketknife.

Stefan barely remembered what happened next. It was all a blur. One moment, Tyler was trying to jab the knife into his stomach, and the next, Tyler was screaming on the ground while cradling his arm. Stefan was standing over him in shock, his chest still heaving as people started coming out of the gym because of the horrible noises Tyler was making. All Stefan could do was stare at the boy writhing in pain at his feet as a crowd gathered around them.

"Stefan!" Caroline gasped as she came up to his side. She grabbed his arm and tried to drag him away but his feet were glued to the spot. "Stefan, please, tell me what you did."

"I didn't... I didn't mean to," he murmured, his eyes still glued on Tyler. Someone was calling 911 while trying to keep Tyler from moving his arm. "He came at me first... He had a knife! I wasn't..." Stefan closed his eyes and shuddered. He really didn't feel good. "Please believe me," he begged her, opening his eyes to show the anguish in them.

"I believe you," she nodded but her face was still filled with worry. "I'm going to call my mom."

"No! No cops!" Stefan shouted, making everyone nearby jump.

"Stefan, he's really hurt. He could have seriously hurt you. My mom has to know about this." Caroline finally got him to move and she pulled him to the side of the school where there were less people. Stefan started crying, his whole body shaking with his silent sobs as she held him in an embrace. "It's okay, I've got you," she reassured him.

"It's not my fault, it's not my fault," he kept whimpering. His eyes tried to seek out Tyler through the crowd, but his mind replaced his broken body with someone else's.


	10. The Cabin

The car was silent as Liz drove Stefan home along with Caroline. Stefan had to admit this police car ride was much  _much_ better than the one he had endured last month. Yet he was in the same boat, beaten with a cut that would scab over in a few days. He was lucky that Tyler had only nicked his hand. Caroline's hand squeezed his when his breath caught in his throat. He glanced at her, taking in worried expression, wishing he could explain everything to her but he didn't even know what he was feeling himself. He was back at square one, but at least he had Caroline by his side.

"Are you sure you don't want to change your statement?" Liz asked, breaking the silence.

Stefan shook his head as he looked out the window, not knowing or caring if she could see his answer.

"So you want to say that he ambushed you outside of your car with a knife and in self defense, you broke his arm?" She didn't sound like she was judging him but he still didn't like how she was talking to him like he might break any moment.

"It's the truth," he mumbled. "He found me with the intent to hurt me. That's all there is."

"You know he won't be able to play football for the rest of the season. His father might want to sue you."

Stefan was shaking his head before she even finished the sentence. "If he's going to sue me for breaking his arm, I should sue him for trying to kill me."

Caroline sniffled, which caught his attention. Her eyes were rimmed with red as they met his. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have sent you out there. He wouldn't have found you otherwise-"

"It's not your fault, Caroline," he said softly. "Tyler is a crazy bastard who would've gotten me alone one way or another."

She leaned in until her head was on his shoulder and she sighed. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again."

Stefan let out a chuckle and rested his chin gently on her. "I'd want nothing more than to spend every second with you, to be honest."

Caroline suddenly perked up. "You should come with me this weekend. I was going to go to my family cabin in the backwoods to clean out some of my clothes there, you should come with me."

Stefan glanced at her mother in the front seat, but she just shrugged. "It's not like Caroline wouldn't sneak you over even if I said no. Just be safe." Stefan instantly blushed, making Liz chuckle. "I can tell you're a good kid, Stefan. Much better than that boy, what was his name, Greenberg?"

"Mom, please stop talking." It was Caroline's turn to blush now. "Anyway, I'll pick you up tomorrow, okay? We'll just relax all weekend. Does that sound good?"

"That sounds perfect." He thanked her silently with his eyes and she smiled in response.

They dropped him off at his house and he slowly made his way inside. Damon was waiting for him with a glass of bourbon in his hand.

"Funny- I got a call earlier saying you broke a kid's arm in a fight?" Damon gulped down the rest of his glass before getting up to fill it again. "That sounds more like me than you, brother."

"I was just defending myself," Stefan stated quietly.

Damon walked straight up to him and stared him in the eyes. "You'd know a lot about that... right?"

Stefan flinched a little, but nodded. "I know what Dad did to you now," he murmured softly.

Damon's face dropped and he sighed. "I didn't want you to have to deal with it, but I couldn't take it anymore."

"I know," Stefan assured him. "I don't blame you. You know, I used to think you were always the bad guy in the house, the way that Dad always talked about you."

"He thought you were the golden child and I was the son sent from hell. Things got really bad once Mom died... but I think he used to hurt her too." There it was. Damon admitted what Stefan had suspected for a while. "What did he used to do to you?" Damon asked quietly, morbid curiosity taking over.

Stefan shrugged and looked down. "If he had a bad day, he would just drink a lot and start ranting to me about the problems in his life. If he really got worked up, he would shove me and throw things at me."

Damon furrowed his eyebrows, not wanting to hear this but needing to at the same time. "Did he ever do anything to you sober?"

"No," Stefan shook his head. "It only started after he had a drink or two. That's why I can't stand them."

Damon nodded and put his empty glass down. "I think I got into drinking just because I didn't want to feel everything like I normally do," he admitted.

"That's what I use books for," Stefan gave a little smile. "After you left and Dad turned to me... I would just get lost in them for hours."

"What did that Lockwood kid do to you," Damon asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"He came at me," Stefan shrugged.

"Yeah, but breaking his arm... that doesn't sound like you. He had to have done more than that," Damon insisted.

Stefan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "He just... reminded me of Dad. The last time Dad came at me was with a knife, just like Tyler did tonight."

Damon's eyes widened in shock. "Are you fucking kidding?" When Stefan shook his head, he scoffed. "Fucking asshole. It's a good thing he died."

There was a knot in Stefan's throat, preventing him from speaking, so he just nodded again. Sensing that the conversation was over - for now - Damon took a seat again and mulled over the information his brother just gave him. "Is it okay if I stay with Caroline this weekend?" Stefan asked after a little while of silence.

Damon raised his eyebrow before shrugging. "I don't see why not. Just don't get in any fights, okay?"

"Won't be a problem."

* * *

Caroline was outside his house early the next day. Stefan was still deciding what he should pack when she surprised him by opening the door to his room.

"Damon let me in," she explained in reply to his questioning gaze.

"I'm almost done, I just... didn't know what to bring," he admitted, looking at the clothing in his hands.

"Well... there's a lake behind the house," she told him as she walked slowly toward him. "You could bring something for that... or we could just go skinny dipping," she winked.

"I like the second choice," Stefan chuckled.

She smiled at him and took the shirt out of his grasp. "It really doesn't matter what you wear. It'll just be you and me all weekend." She examined his shirt before tossing it into his bag. "You do look good in blue, though," she shrugged.

This girl was a saint. He was afraid that she would treat him differently. That she would walk on eggshells around him, or even worse, be scared of him after seeing what he did to Tyler. But Caroline was her same bubbly, flirty self. And it made him love her even more.

He pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose. "I love you," he said softly.

She threaded her fingers through his hair to pull him into a real kiss. It felt good to have their bodies pressed together, even through all their layers of clothes. He tried to tangle his tongue with hers but she pulled back for a moment. "I love you too," she cooed before capturing his lips again.

They must've been making out for a while because the next thing they knew, Damon knocked on the door once before entering without an invitation. "Are you guys going to go or are you going to play tonsil hockey all day?"

Stefan took a half step away from her but kept his arms around her waist. "What's it to you?"

"I might have made some plans that require you to be out of the house. Unless you want to stay and watch me take Elena on every surface," Damon smirked.

Stefan closed his eyes and sighed. "I really did  _not_  want to hear that. Thank you, brother. Now I have to go bleach my mind."

"Now that my duty is done here, you guys should skedaddle. I have a date weekend to get ready for."

Caroline ended up being the one to shove a bunch of his clothes into a bag and drag him downstairs by his hand. They took her car since she was the only one who knew where her family cabin was.

"So I see Damon hasn't changed," she commented as they got on the highway out of town.

"I actually talked to him, like  _really_ talked to him yesterday and he wasn't an ass about it," Stefan mentioned while looking at the radio. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little nervous to be bringing this up.

"Oh?" He could tell Caroline was dying to ask him a million questions but she refrained.

"Yeah. I mean, he wanted to know why I hurt Tyler so I told him..." His face was feeling hot and itchy so he trailed off so he could gather his thoughts.

"And why  _did_  you hurt Tyler? If it's okay for me to ask," she added the last part in a rush, afraid she was overstepping her boundaries.

"It's okay. I should tell you. I mean other than Damon, you're the only one I trust," he admitted. "I guess I should start by saying that... my dad was not a good person. Damon was abused every day until he moved out."

Caroline's eyes almost popped out of her skull at this revelation and she was lucky Stefan took hold of the steering wheel because she almost swerved them into a ditch. "Oh. Wow. I didn't... Wow." A new thought struck her and she gasped in horror. "Wait, does that mean that it happened to you too?"

Stefan nodded and looked down. "Once Damon left, my dad had no one else to take it out on, so... yeah."

"I'm so sorry," Caroline said somberly. "You two really didn't deserve any of that."

"I know," he nodded again. "Sometimes life deals you a shitty hand and you just have to deal with it."

"Still, that sounds so horrible." Caroline shook her head in disgust before thinking about it some more. "So... why did you break Tyler's arm then?"

"The way he was coming at me kind of reminded me of my dad and I just went into defensive mode," Stefan shrugged. He prayed she wouldn't dig deeper and his prayers were answered.

"Does anyone else know other than Damon?"

Stefan hesitated in answering, making her glance at him quickly before focusing on the road again. "My ex-girlfriend knew, before she moved away. It was hard for her because she knew she was pretty much the only good thing in my life and she would have to leave me. She felt guilty for a while."

Caroline couldn't help but to feel a little jealous at the mention of his ex. "Did you love her?" she blurted out before she could talk herself out of asking it.

"I thought I did at the time... but then I met you."

She grinned so hard, she was afraid her cheeks would crack and fall off. "Right answer."

Stefan laughed and covered her hand with his. They arrived at the Forbes family cabin shortly after and Stefan was intrigued. It wasn't much smaller than their house in Mystic Falls but it was surrounded by beautiful trees. Their leaves were in the middle of their transition, turning yellow, orange and red. Stefan immediately fell in love with the location.

He helped her unpack the car and bring their bags inside. "What do you want to do now?" He asked after they stocked the kitchen with the food they would need for the next two days.

"This," she smirked before wrapping her arms around his neck and connecting their lips. They hadn't had much alone time in the past couple of weeks because Stefan spent a lot of his free time working the bar at the Grill, but they were alone now.

Stefan happily kissed her back, his arms winding around her back to bring her up flush against him. She tugged on his hair a little, making him moan. He tried to lead them to her room until he realized he had no idea where that was.

Sensing his dilemma, Caroline giggled and grabbed his hand to lead him to her bedroom. Stefan was both surprised and unsurprised with how it looked. The walls were pink with purple unicorns painted on. She had a full sized canopy bed with purple and silver bedding. Caroline rolled her eyes when he stared pointedly at her.

"We decorated this when I was eight, okay?" she told him as she wrapped her arms around his neck again. "I don't come here enough to change the design so it's whatever."

"I don't know if I'm upset or not that there isn't more glitter," he teased as he leaned down to brush his lips against hers.

She surprised him by pushing him onto her bed and climbing on top of him. Her hair cascaded around their faces as they kissed with a renewed fervor. She started unbuttoning his shirt while his hands crept under hers. Once she reached the last button, he pulled her shirt over her head and threw it across the room. His hands immediately went to her back and undid her bra. Caroline sat up and smiled as it dropped down her arms. He bit his lip as he took in the sight before him. He reached up and let his hand trail down from her cheek, pausing to cup her breast, sliding down her belly to the waistband of her pants. She grinded her hips against him a bit, making him groan as he felt himself harden.

Stefan wrapped his arms around her back and turned them over. His hand came up to brush away a few locks of her hair and they smiled at each other. Leaning down, he pressed a few short kisses to her lips before deepening them. Their hands blindly reached down to help each other out of their pants. While kissing down her neck, he reached down and gently rubbed her clit. She arched her back and gasped, digging her fingers across his back. He ran a finger across her entrance and smirked against her neck when he felt how wet she was. Slipping two fingers inside her, he curled them and slowly pumped them into her as he kept pressure on her clit with his thumb. She struggled to remember how to breathe when he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth.

"Please, Stefan, I need you in me," she moaned.

His eyes instantly darkened. Quickly, he reached for his jeans, taking out his wallet and pulling out a condom. She grinned devilishly at him as he put it on and immediately covered her body with his. Their lips met messily as she wrapped her legs around his waist. They sighed into each other's mouths as he finally entered her. Her tight heat was almost too much for him so he focused on thoroughly kissing her for a minute. Before long, she grew impatient and started clenching around him.

"Fuck," he groaned and started moving.

They were much more familiar with each other's bodies now than they were the first few times they were together, so Stefan knew just how much she loved it when he hiked one of her legs into the crook of her elbow. He focused more on going slow and deep, causing Caroline to become incoherent. Every time he filled her up, he grinded against her to rub her clit. He would almost pull all the way out before slowly thrusting deeply into her again.

"Oh god," she gasped out when he gave a particularly hard thrust. "Stefan, I love you so much."

He closed his eyes and just absorbed everything he was feeling at the moment, both physical and emotional. "I love you, too," he panted before taking it to the next level.

He started thrusting faster and harder. To compensate for the lack of depth, he snuck a hand between their bodies to service her clit as well. Her toes curled as her body met his stroke for stroke. It was almost too much for them, both of them sweating and desperately trying to reach their end.

Caroline came first, moaning and shaking. It set off his orgasm and he weakly thrusted against her a few times before letting go of her leg and nuzzling into her neck. They were so tired, they almost fell asleep like this until Caroline's phone started ringing. Stefan groaned when she started poking him.

"You need to get off. I have to get my phone," she giggled.

"How can you even move right now?" he grumbled as he begrudgingly rolled to the side. He took care of the used condom as she pulled her phone out of her pants and answered it.

"Hi, Mom!" she greeted brightly. Stefan's face turned red. How could she be so casual talking to her mom after what they  _just_  did? "Really? That's great!" she exclaimed. Her eyes landed on him and she smiled widely. "I'll be sure to tell him. Yeah. I'll be home by Monday, don't worry. Bye!"

"What do you have to tell me?" Stefan asked as she just grinned at him.

"My mom cleared everything with Tyler. After getting his arm set, he gave his statement and it matched yours. It was totally self defense and they can't charge you for that."

Stefan smiled too and pulled her into a hug. "That's great. Wow, today can't get any better."

"The thing is," she started saying as she pulled away from the hug, "you can try to get him charged for assault, if you want."

Stefan hesitated and thought for a second. Did he want to charge Tyler for assault? Possibly give him a criminal record and change his life forever? Have to go to court and possibly have his abusive past brought up? "I don't think I want to," he murmured.

Caroline looked at him, seeing the serious expression on his face. "Okay, you don't have to. I mean, no one would mind him being in jail for a month or two, but whatever floats your boat."

Stefan smiled and leaned in for a kiss. "Have I told you I love you today?"

"Maybe once or twice," she smirked cheekily.

"Hmm, well I'll say it again. I love you," he mumbled against her lips.

"Love you, too," she replied and once again, they were tangled in the sheets together.


	11. The Truce

Needless to say, it was quite awkward for Stefan walking into school that Monday. Whispers followed him everywhere he went, even worse than his first day. He kept his head down, determined to blend in and hoped everyone would forget about what happened during the Homecoming Dance by the next day. Caroline, on the other hand, held her head high as they walked down the halls together. She kept her hand firmly entwined with his, subconsciously telling people that she was not afraid of him and neither should they.

They passed Tyler down a hallway and Stefan fought the urge to shrink against the lockers. Tyler had his arm in a cast that was already signed by half a dozen people. Stefan almost avoided him completely but suddenly Tyler's eyes landed on him and he made a beeline straight towards the couple. Stefan noticed he was walking gingerly on one of his feet, sparking his curiosity.

"Stefan, I just, um, wanted to say I'm sorry. For what happened. On Friday," Tyler mumbled lowly.

Stefan's eyes almost popped out of his sockets. Tyler? Apologizing? To  _him_? "Uhh... I'm sorry too. For that," he nodded at the cast on his arm.

Tyler still wouldn't meet his gaze, which was alright with him. The less he had to see Tyler's swollen and bruised eye staring at him, the better. "It won't happen again," Tyler muttered before walking away.

"Okay... what was that?" Stefan asked his girlfriend as he looked after the boy in utter confusion.

"His dad probably talked to him. Tyler never apologizes to anyone," Caroline informed him.

"How does his dad have that much power over him?"

"I don't know. He probably threatened to cut down his allowance to a hundred dollars a week or something," Caroline shrugged. "Come on, we should get to class."

She pulled him away but Stefan kept his troubled gaze on the broken boy walking down the hall.

* * *

During lunch, Matt surprised everyone by taking a seat at the end of their table with Tyler trailing behind him. There was an awkward silence for a while. No one knew what to say. Matt and Tyler had been exiled over a month ago and no one had talked to them since.

"So... um..." Stefan said, trying to break the awkwardness. Everyone's eyes went to him and he felt a little nervous. "Tyler. I guess you're out for the season?" He bit his lip and prayed that he didn't just make everything worse with this.

Fire flamed up in Tyler's eyes for a second before he reigned it back and shrugged. "Coach said he recorded enough games to show to scouts and they'll check me out next season."

That was not at all the response Stefan was expecting. "Well, uh, I hope your arm heals fast...?" Stefan now knew why he barely ever talked to people. He was so damn awkward.

Tyler shrugged again and pushed his food around with his fork. "It's not like he wouldn't break it anyway," he muttered under his breath but Stefan definitely heard it.

The others apparently did too. Everyone's eyes flickered to each other, not sure what to make of Tyler's last remark.

"Will you still come to our games?" Matt picked up where Stefan had left off.

"I guess. I mean my dad wants me to, like, help around the house or something but I'll try."

The way Tyler said that made Stefan mildly uncomfortable. He knew that the Lockwoods had a maid service to clean their luxurious mansion. He also knew that Tyler had never dusted anything in his life. So what was up?

"You girls did great, by the way," Matt spoke up again, looking at Caroline, Bonnie and Elena.

Bonnie smiled and thanked him while Jeremy watched on proudly. Finally, his best friend and his girlfriend were getting along.

Caroline almost didn't respond until Stefan nudged her lightly on the ribs. She gave Matt a tight lipped smile and gave a short nod.

Elena didn't even acknowledge him, opting instead to pick at her nails.

Matt sighed. "Elena, I know you hate me but please, can we just be friends?"

"You lost that right once you called the police on Damon," she said curtly while scraping some dirt out from under her nail.

"I'm sorry. I won't do that again."

Elena hummed her disbelief before standing up. "I'm suddenly not hungry anymore. See you guys later."

As she left, Stefan chanced a glance at Matt. He looked downright miserable, almost as if he was going to cry. "Matt," Stefan spoke up, not believing he was actually going to get in the middle of this again. "Maybe you should just give it some time."

Matt nodded but his baby blue eyes were still clouded with tears.

"Stefan, do you want to go for a walk?" Caroline suggested in his ear.

He looked around the table again; Matt was trying to hold it together, Tyler was scowling at his cast, Bonnie was leaning on Jeremy and Jeremy was trying to feed her a chip. There was no reason to stay so he nodded.

They walked around the front yard where some students were still eating their lunch. "It's kind of weird having them back, isn't it?" she asked as their fingers entwined.

"Didn't they used to eat with you before I came?"

"Nothing mattered before you came," she claimed.

Stefan laughed. "Wow, are you taking a page out of my cheesy romantic lines book? I should keep it in a better hiding spot."

"If loving you makes me cheesy, call me gouda."

"Nah, the delivery's all wrong," he teased her. "You have to say something like this: 'you and I would brie perfectly gouda'. Or 'life would be feta if we were together'."

Caroline was laughing so hard, she put a hand on his chest so he'd stop walking. "You're such a cheese ball. Why am I even with you?"

"Because I love you," he murmured while gathering her in his arms. "And you love me."

"Careful, boy. We're at school," she breathed out the reminder.

Not able to do what he really wanted, he simply gave her a peck on the lips before letting her go. "Did you notice anything strange with Tyler?" he asked, changing the subject.

Caroline raised her eyebrows. "You went from wanting to make out with me to thinking about Tyler?"

"I'm being serious," he gave her a small smile. "What was that comment about his arm being broken anyway if I didn't do it?"

"I don't know," Caroline shrugged before reconsidering. "I mean, there are those rumors..."

"What rumors?" Stefan's heart beat faster in anticipation.

"Well, once Elena and I had a sleepover, you know like last year. Bonnie was like at her dad's house for the weekend or something, I'm not really sure. This was like the weekend after we took the PSATs, so yeah, Bonnie wanted to-"

"Caroline," he interrupted her and put his hands on her shoulders. "What was the rumor?"

"Right. So Elena told me that Matt went to Tyler's house the week before and his dad was like going psychotic."

"In what way?" Dread was forming in his stomach but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"Tyler's dad was campaigning for reelection but Tyler had been caught getting high with Vicki. His dad was super pissed because that wouldn't reflect on his 'family values and traditions' campaign well. So Matt said when he was there in the same room, his dad threw a glass at him that shattered on the wall."

Stefan swallowed thickly. "Matt saw this?"

"Yeah. I mean, his dad's just an asshole, right?" Caroline searched his eyes but all she found was sorrow and pity.

"That's exactly what my dad used to do before he would get more physical," he admitted sadly.

Caroline's eyes widened. "You don't mean... Tyler too?"

"It would explain a lot. My dad was pretty controlling with how Damon and I portrayed the family. I mean, he was running for mayor as well. He expected absolute perfection from us and when he didn't get it, he would lose his temper."

"Maybe that's where Tyler got all those anger problems from," she wondered out loud. Stefan gravely nodded. "Why aren't you like that?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "Whenever my dad would get like that, I would just sink more into my shell. The further I was emotionally from the situation, the less it hurt. I could convince myself my dad still loved me if I couldn't feel anything."

Caroline's eyes were getting watery and her heart was breaking. "You didn't think your dad loved you?"

"Sometimes I thought he did, but it was very conditional. If I brought home all A's, he would buy me dinner and a gold watch. But if I got one B, he would flip a shit. He only loved me if I was being the perfect son, which I tried so hard to be."

"No one's perfect, Stefan," she said lowly, taking his hand in hers and giving it a light squeeze.

He squeezed back. "I know. But I didn't want to disappoint him so I tried so hard. Damon was different because our dad never really believed in him. So when Dad got disappointed, Damon would just act out and crash at friend's houses. Honestly, I was a little afraid of Damon growing up. I'd be a little eight year old watching my sixteen year old brother pitching a fit and storming out of the house. I understand now, but those were confusing times."

"Wow," Caroline breathed out, not sure what to say. "I never really knew what it was like to have a sibling. I mean, my dad's boyfriend has a daughter but she's only ten."

"That's about the same age difference as me and Damon," Stefan shrugged. "Do you know her?"

"A little. I don't get out there often because they live near Roanoke, but sometimes I just..." her voice broke and she looked down. Stefan lifted her chin up with his finger and encouraged her to continue. "Sometimes, I think he's happier now without me in his life."

Stefan's heart broke. "No one could possibly be happier without you," he murmured sadly.

"Tell that to my dad. He barely even remembers my birthday." Something clicked in her brain and she perked up. "Wait, isn't your birthday coming up?"

"Yeah, it's in a few days." Caroline smirked mysteriously at him but before he could ask what she was planning, the bell rang to signal the end of lunch period.

"Come on," she grinned, dragging him back into school.

* * *

The morning of his birthday, Stefan was slightly disappointed that he didn't wake up to a text from Caroline. Damon completely ignored his presence, drinking his morning bourbon without saying a word.

Stefan definitely knew something was up when he got to school and Caroline quietly wrapped her arm around him. "Alright, what's up?" he asked as they walked down the hall.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said innocently, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.

"You're not talking and you're usually  _always_  talking," he reminded her. "Spill."

She sighed and scrunched her cute little face up. "You're ruining it. You'll find out later."

"Come on, Care, you're not going to make me wait are you?" He put on his best pouty face and could feel her resolve melting by the minute.

"Fine," she cried, stomping her foot. "There's going to be a birthday party at your house after school, okay! I got Damon to agree and it'll just be your friends."

Stefan smiled, touched by the fact that they actually hadn't forgotten his birthday. "Aww, thank you."

"Why did you have to get me to tell?!" she whined as they continued walking down the hall.

"Everyone's been acting weird today. Damon didn't even mock me this morning. I knew something was up. Besides, I know you love me enough to tell me."

"I wanted it to be a surprise." He glanced down at her and saw she was genuinely upset.

"I'm sorry. I'll still have a good time. It's the thought that counts."

"Promise me you'll act surprised? Elena and Bonnie bet that I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret and I'll lose if you don't at least pretend you didn't expect it."

"I promise I'll act surprised," he reassured her just as the first bell rang.

A few people wished him a happy birthday as the school day went on, the most interesting one being Aimee Bradley who gave him her number and a wink as if his girlfriend wasn't standing right next to him. He tore it up into little pieces as Caroline watched with jealous eyes.

"You know you have nothing to worry about? Aimee's got nothing on you," he said while kissing her forehead.

Caroline flipped her hair and continued walking down the hall. "I know."

In the locker room before practice, Stefan cornered Matt. Matt's eyes lit up in recognition as Stefan approached him. "Hey, man. Happy birthday."

Stefan nodded in thanks. "What can you tell me about Tyler's dad?"

Matt paused, confused by the sudden change in conversation. "He's a bit of a hardass, why?"

"Do you ever think Tyler's the way he is because of him?" Stefan pressed.

"I guess," Matt shrugged. "I mean his dad has a short fuse so I guess Tyler gets it from him."

"Have you ever seen his dad get physical with him?"

Matt's eyes shot around the room nervously before he nodded.

Stefan sighed and shook his head in sorrow. "Thanks for the birthday wish," he told Matt before heading out to practice.

Tyler obviously wasn't there and some of his teammates glared at Stefan and whispered behind his back. It was hard for him, being treated like he was nothing again after making friends on the field, but he battled through it. He was never more happy for practice to end so he could head to his 'surprise' party.

Everything seemed normal when he pulled up his driveway but as soon as he opened the front door, he was bombarded by noise.

"Happy birthday!"

He remembered to act surprised as he looked around to see who was there. Damon and Caroline, of course, Elena, Bonnie, and even Jeremy. He widened his eyes and let out a little smile, thinking it was a reasonable surprised reaction from him. "Wow guys. Thanks!"

Bonnie sighed and rolled her eyes. "Caroline, you told him!"

Caroline looked completely scandalized before she dropped the act and pointed at Stefan. "He forced me to!"

He laughed and pulled her into a hug. "Really though, hearing about it and experiencing it are two different things. Thank you guys."

"My baby bro is seventeen," Damon spoke up, his hand wrapped around a glass of alcohol as usual. "Just one more year until I can kick you out."

"Your love for me just pours out of every word you say," Stefan said sarcastically, clapping his hand on his brother's shoulder.

Everyone wished him a happy birthday separately before moving into the living room. Stefan and Caroline took the main couch while Damon and Elena were on the right and Bonnie and Jeremy were on the left couch.

"What do you plan on doing now that you're seventeen?" Caroline asked, curled up at his side.

"There's not much difference between seventeen and sixteen," Stefan shrugged.

"Man, you're lucky," Jeremy complained. "I  _just_  turned fifteen. I have so long until seventeen."

"Yeah, Bonnie, you're such a cougar," Elena laughed. "Hunting my little brother so you can get your claws into him."

"I'm still sixteen!" Bonnie defended herself. "We're not  _that_  far apart."

"Only three more months until you're seventeen though," Caroline reminded her with a raised eyebrow. "Should we get cougar print for your wedding dress?"

Everyone laughed while Jeremy and Bonnie blushed at the thought of a wedding. "What about you guys?" Bonnie directed at Elena and Damon. "Damon's such a cradle robber."

Elena rolled her eyes but Damon scowled. "I'll be eighteen in June," she reminded everyone. "I'm still the oldest of our school group."

"Damon's turning twenty six in June too, though," Stefan pointed out.

The older Salvatore rolled his eyes and stood up. "Alright, enough of the age game, let's eat some cake."

Stefan's face was hot as the group sang the birthday song to him surrounded around a small yellow sheet cake. Damon handed him the cake knife to make the first cut.

"A slice of cake for my sweet," Stefan crooned softly as he handed the dessert to his girlfriend. The other boys rolled their eyes while the girls cooed at the cuteness.

Everyone got a piece of the cake and Stefan could barely believe how good his life was going. He had his girlfriend, his brother, and all of his friends around him. His girlfriend now knew what had gone on in his past and hadn't treated him any differently. His two enemies from school had called a truce and he wasn't scared of anything for the first time in his life.

Well, at least he wasn't scared for himself.

As it got late and the cake ran out, Bonnie and Jeremy bid them adieu. Elena got up on her tiptoes and kissed Damon goodbye a bit longer than Stefan would have liked to witness before waving at him as well. Caroline hugged Stefan tightly and promised she would see him the next morning.

That left Stefan and Damon alone. Damon dropped down onto a couch and reached for his bourbon but Stefan pulled it away. "Damon, I want to ask you something serious."

Damon raised his eyebrow but nodded, showing he was listening.

"I think Tyler, the guy whose arm I broke? I think his dad hits him too," Stefan said quietly.

Damon frowned and sat up. "Tyler Lockwood? Are you sure?"

"His friend Matt said he saw his dad get physical with him and there's already all sorts of rumors. I mean it makes sense. He's acting out just like you used to."

"Yeah," Damon sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, what do you want to do?"

Stefan shrugged and sat next to him on the couch. "I already talked to Caroline about this so I guess we'll tell her mom. I'm not sure if Tyler would be okay with going against his dad though so it'll be our word against his."

"You should talk to him first," Damon suggested. "If he's not ready, let it go, but let him know that you know what it's like. He can't get help unless he wants it."

Stefan nodded. "Thanks, Damon. For everything," he said sincerely. "For taking me in, for supporting me, for being there. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"No prob, Stef," he said while ruffling Stefan's hair to his consternation. "We're brothers for life, right?"

Stefan smiled, despite his irritation that his hair got messed up. "Brothers for life."

**Author's Note:**

> I made a twitter (steroline_lovee) and tumblr (steroline-lovee). If you follow me, I'll definitely follow you back and we can talk about Steroline!


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